Angel
by Skye Jette Lexington
Summary: After a time apart Max and Fang are finally reunited, Max has some problems accepting Fang's return, especially when she's falling for Jace, who may not be who he seems. Book is better than summary!
1. Prologue

Prologue

"That's them." The man said. He stood with a slight hunch. He pointed to a picture of two girls. One was tall and athletic. She had dirty blond hair and chololate brown eyes, despite her surly attitude in the picture, and the mud/blood that was splattered across her face, she was beautiful. The other was a small pixie like girl with honey blond hair and bright blue eyes. The most striking thing about the two girls were the stunning wings that kept them afloat in the sky. The tall girl had white wings speckled with brown, like a falcon, while the younger girl had white dove-like wings.

"Dead, I got it." The leader of the group of lupin hybrids said from behind the hunched man.

"NO!" The man yelled suddenly. His rage was shocking. "They stay alive. As for the rest of them, do whatever it takes. I need those girls. Remember one thing, if you kill them, you are dead as well."

His threat resonated in the back of the hybrids heads as the man said one final thing,

"They are the key to your, my, and everyone's survival. They are the only key."


	2. Chapter 1: Texas

Chapter 1: Texas

"No wait, come back" I whispered. All I could see off in the distance were a set of beautiful black wings flying off in to the sun. I was standing on a familiar cliff. I'd been here once before. I tried to spread my own wings and fly, but I couldn't. It was like I was paralyzed. As if _he _could hear me, I saw the wings swoop down and turn around back towards me. He was coming back. It was all too good to be true. And then, just like all the events in my life go, everything went down hill from there. Distracted by the sight of onyx wings in the air I didn't have any time to notice an Eraser attack me from behind. He looked like Ari- only even bigger. It was as if I couldn't fight. I stood there unable to move. Suddenly, Angel came in to sight. My precious Angel. She could help me. Just as I suspected she fought off the Ari like Eraser for me. As I bent down to hug her she pushed me. And I mean _really _pushed me. It was so hard that I stumbled backward. I was about to fall from the cliff. No worries right? I had wings. Apparently not anymore- It was as if they had disappeared within a matter of seconds and I was plummeting to my death. This was it. I was going to die without ever seeing _him _again.

"It's my flock now. Good-bye Max," Angel shouted from the top of the cliff. And then everything went black.

I woke up with a jolt. "Gahh…" I muttered as the sunlight shone bright through the window. It was just a dream. It was one of those dreams that could come true at any moment- the worst kind.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Maximum Ride - scared of a dream? Well, yes, yes I am.

Lame? I know.

I buried my face in the pillow and let myself sink back in to the dark. It was peaceful- for a while at least. That was until a loud BOOM interrupted my long needed R & R. One name came to mind- The Gasman. I burst out of my bed room- which resembled a pig sty at the moment, not a big change from the usual level of cleanliness, which is why I swear bird kid mutants are born with a defective gene for neatness- and ran to the backyard.

"Gazzie wanted a pool…" Nudge muttered.

"So he blew a hole the size of Texas in to our backyard?!" I spluttered.

"It's called _hiring _a professional, Gazzie. I told you Max would be mad." Dylan sided with me.

"Give it a rest," I mumbled. The idiot had been kissing up to me all week. Ever since…Fang left.

"I practically am a professional!" Gazzie argued.

I really wasn't in the mood for this. How much more could they do? This week was one that belonged in the 'worst nightmare' categories, and pretty darn close to the top of that list of joy. Coming from me- that's pretty bad.

"We can just get some titanium, line the hole, get some of that special paper stuff they use, hook up some pipes, it'll be all good!" Iggy tried to amend.

"_No." _I replied fiercely. "Fix this- _now._"

"But HOW?" Gazzie threw his arms in the air.

"Buy a truckload of a soil, fill the hole, and line it with grass. It'll be all good." I said, mimicking Iggy.

I turned around and walked back in to the house. Not before I heard the hushed whispers though.

"She's mental!" Gazzie exclaimed.

"Poor Max," Nudge whispered sadly.

"This was what was best." Angel replied smugly. She loved being right. She was such a brat sometimes.

"Come on guys, give it a rest." Surprisingly, it was Iggy's voice I heard speaking those words.

And even more surprisingly Dylan kept his mouth shut. He'd been trying to cheer me up for days. Couldn't he tell the last thing I wanted was to be with him? He had added on about 200 pounds to the problem that was already weighing me down. Of course, Fang added about 500 and Angel about 300. Look at me being all metaphorical! Fang would be so proud- no I will NOT think about him. I refuse to think of that ex-best friend/ boy friend/ right hand man/ only person I trusted with my life. Correction: The only person I had trusted with my life, until now. Now it was only me.

All in all, Dylan was being _overly _helpful. I wasn't dying, I was just sad. I could still do things for myself. I'd come to the conclusion he was another sexist pig. Yeah. That's it!

Why couldn't I ever have a break? My happiness didn't last more than like- 2 days! Sometimes even hours!

And with that depressing thought, I curled up in to a little circle on my bed tucked my wings behind me tightly and drifted back in to unconsciousness. If _he _couldn't be here in person, then I'd just have to dream he was, so I could beat him up, or run into his arms… Don't worry, I already know how pathetic that is.


	3. Chapter 2: Blog War

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Hey guys, this is only my second fanfic and I hope you like it, but I would LOVE it if u would please review!**

**-Skye**

CHAPTER 2- Blog War

Account: .Ride

You are visitor number: Thing is still broken from He Who Shall Not Be Named- No, not Voldemort.

Welcome to my blog. I honestly have no idea how to greet you to this thing that was designed to confuse me to the point of exhaustion, and then subject me to Nudge's mocking as she whipped through pages that had taken me an hour to find on our super cool government swiped lap top. But SHHH don't tell anyone.

I'm pretty sure anyone reading my blog has read the blog of my ex-bf. BF stands for best friend, and boy friend. I hope you know who that is because I have sworn to never speak his name again. Therefore, I'm going to assume you know the flock, if not ask a friend, I'm sure they're heard of us. There aren't many mutant bird children in the world.

Today Gazzy (the Gasman) decided he wanted a pool. Since he knew we obviously couldn't afford one, he decided to use his special bombing skills to blow a pool size hole in the backyard, which interupted my reunion with my new best friend, sleep. This of course led to _Dylan _sucking up to me some more, sorry bud if you're reading this, but you have got to give it a rest!

I had promised myself I wouldn't be depressing in my first blog, but I can't help it. If you're reading XBF, which I strongly believe you are, than I want you to know the extent of the damage you've done. Life is getting worse. I thought it was perfect while you were here, but now you're gone. You were like half of me, without you, I'm lost. Angel keeps trying to take over the flock, Iggy's depressed, Jeb is still trying to move back in, Nudge is trying to make life easy for me but only making me more depressed, Dylan's being well, Dylan, and as you already know, Gazzy wants a pool.

So, that's it for my first blog, weird isn't it? I'll try and answer your questions if you have any, but I make no guarantees!

Live life to the MAX,

Yours featherly

Q+A (1357 questions)

Aww, you guys are making me blush! I know I said I'd try to answer all your questions, but I thought there would be maybe 10 people reading this! So, I'll try to answer a few, because you guys are just to kind to read this!

TheRedHairedWonder says:   
By XBF do you mean Nick? Cause if he left and is single again, where is he?????

.Ride says: I have absolutely no comment to that. Go brush your hair.

Jake says:  
So, what's the flock's next move?

.Ride says: I think we're probabaly gonna lay low and get some real R & R.

Nick says:

Do you hate fang because he left? or do you think you hate him because you love him?

.Ride says:

I dunno fnick, I dunno, all I know is I want to mess up that pretty face of yours.

DylanLover says:

Will you and Dylan ever get together?

.Ride says:

Keep dreaming DylanLover, you can have him if you want him, sorry Dyl if you're reading.

Angel says:

Don't you know this is all for the best Max?

.Ride says: 

As if. Drop it sweetie, you're only seven.

* * *

FANG'S BLOG

You are visitor number: 12875690

Hey guys. As you know, I have started my own flock, and if any of you have any REAL mutations that could help us save the world please contact me! Thanks to all of you who have told me about your "skills", but unfortunately guys, I need someone who is more mutated than being able to bend their finger backwards! Sorry!

Usually I talk about Max, and how much I love her and occasionally about how much I hate Dylan. Well, I still REALLY hate Dylan, more than ever because I know that he can have Max now. Max, even typing her name now, I have to pause because it's hard to think properly. I used to think I couldn't think straight with her around, but I'm learning now that she was the reason I thought straight. If you guys could see me now, you probably wouldn't recognize me. I'm like those FlyBoys, I kick butt, yet have no emotion.

To counter Max's comment about the damage I have done to her, I say, maybe you have more issues, but I was the one who had to leave. Leave you with Dylan. THAT sucks.

Whatever, fly on,

Fang

I closed the laptop screen with a thud. God I can't stand him sometimes.

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)**


	4. Chapter 3: New Best Friend

Chapter 3- New Best Friend

"Max, get off the computer!" Nudge shouted from behind me, making me jump. "You've been sitting here for three days. MOVE. Go fly some where."

"I have not been sitting here for three days. It's only been 2!" I said defiantly. Okay, lame argument I know. But still- there was no need to exaggerate!

The truth was, ever since I'd seen "Nick's" comment on my blog, I'd been reading his non stop. I'd just gathered solid proof that he still cared about me. That he was checking up on me. It was a small victory, but I'd take what I could get.

"Do I need to set up an intervention?" She began again, "Because I will. I'll get Dylan to tie you down and I'll go in to non stop Nudge surround sound. Do you really want that?" She asked, threateningly.

"Fine" And I slid back on my new favourite chair 'accidentally' clipping Nudge's toe with the wheels.

"OW! MAX!" She shouted.

"You're tough, you can handle it." I said complacently. It was true! The girl had fought of more mutants than you could ever imagine and she was complaining about her toe.

Was I being harsh?

Maybe…

As I walked away I thought longingly of that comfy wheelie chair. It was really making a good run for my new best friend. My bed was pulling ahead by a long shot though. And then I spotted Iggy sitting by himself on the couch in the living room.

"Hey Iggy, what's up?" I asked.

"SHH, I'm hiding from Gazzie." He pulled me down to sit next to him.

From day 1, Gazzie and Iggy had always been inseparable.

"Your nine year old mutant bird kid best friend can only be so entertaining…" He went on.

And then it hit me. Iggy was 15, not 9. He was bound to crave some attention from other people his own age. I'd been so busy with 'Nick' that I'd completely forgotten about Iggy. Poor kid.

"The Gasman's bringing you down?" I tried to ask jokingly.

"That depends. Is Fang bringing _you _down?"

"Touché" I said slyly, "So other than that, what's up?"

"Small talk? Seriously Max? I've known you my whole life and all you can ask is 'what's up?'"

"Sorry… Well, I'm not very talkative these days as you may have noticed." I tried to amend.

"Nah. Of course not. You've just been a ghost for the past two weeks. But that's no big deal."

"Do I look like an idiot?" I asked him honestly.

"Well, I wouldn't know." He winked.

"I'm rolling my eyes Ig." I had to tell him because, well, Iggy was blind.

"But seriously? Do you think I'm an idiot?" I asked him again.

"No, of course not. Gazzie, Nudge and Angel are just kids, they don't get it yet. And I know how you feel sort of. I miss Fang too. No one can replace him and I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you. You can talk to me Max. I won't go anywhere." He said reassuringly.

"Whoa. That was actually pretty comforting. Thanks Ig." I said, hugging him.

And with that, the underdog had just pulled though. Sorry bed, sorry chair, I've found my new best friend.

* * *

Real nice. That's great Max. Hug Iggy but don't even give me a chance? What more did I have to do? I'd been kissing up to her, ALL WEEK, and I didn't even so much as get a 'hi' in the mornings at the breakfast table.

"Dylan, what are you doing?" I heard Angel ask from behind me. I spun around on my heels. Great. There was no lying to a mind reader.

"I'm...spying on Max." I said, ashamed.

"Oh. Well, you know, I can help you get with Max. It's pretty simple. You should've come to me sooner!"

"Teach me your knowledge oh wise 7 year old." I said sarcastically.

"You need to get to know her. Max hates kiss ups. She needs someone who can be his own person, but someone who can let her have space and be herself. You can't be a total doormat but you can't test her. She _hates _that. Never go against her unless you absolutely have to. Pick your battles. Now, you better listen because this next part is gold."

I nodded.

"You need to act like Fang. Learn how he acts, how he treats Max, what he loves about Max. But you also need to learn what you love about Max."

That was actually a good point. I didn't know what I loved about Max. I didn't even know why I wanted to be with her so badly. I needed to spend more time with her and to do that I'd have to get on her good side. Which, as Angel had pointed out, wasn't easy.

"Sit," She commanded. She pointed to a chair next to the desk. She opened up the laptop and clicked on a folder called "Fang's Stuff".

"This will help you. It's pretty much Max central. This is where you can learn how to be her perfect guy." She added.

And it really was. There were unpublished blogs, letters, notes, even pictures! I started clicking furiously. His blogs were filled with gushy details about his and Max's relationship. The pictures were his sketches of places they'd been. Surprise, surprise, Fang was an artist. I doubt he'd ever shown Max his pictures. The letters were addressed to Max and as I read them I wanted to vomit. The guy was a pile of corny love lines. How could Max be swept away by this guy? He clearly had some issues. My theory there was confirmed when I read a letter addressed to me. I had 'no right' to touch Max. Yeah right. He was out of the picture and he'd pretty much just opened up the door for me. Max would be mine and he'd do nothing about it for 20 years. And by then she'd have forgotten about him completely. This was gold. Pure Max gold. And I loved every second of it.


	5. Chapter 4: Cookies

Chapter Four- Cookies

Fang smashed his fist against the cave wall, and then swore at how stupid he was. It was worse this time. Usually he could just keep working through it, keep talking to the kids who thought they were mutants, but not this time. She was all he could think about. She went through his head like a highlight reel.

Max breaking out of the School with Jeb and the rest of the flock. Max standing on the edge of the roof as she tried out her wings for the first time, and how breathtaking she had been as she was a dark shape against the sun when she figured it out on the first try. Max kissing him on the beach after that fight with Ari. Max's openness as she tried to talk to him after trying to cut the chip out of her wrist. The feeling of kissing her in that cave, and then her running out to leap of the edge, taking his breath away yet again. Max in his arms, begging him to never leave her again, and then he promised he wouldn't. He gritted my teeth, so much for that. Max flying next to him to that little dock where he had kissed her and she had run again. Max making her speech to the world on global warming, so strong and mesmorizing he understood why everyone around her looked up to her. Max telling him she chose him. Max telling him she loved him. Max's face as he woke up from whatever had happened in Dr. Hans' place. Max at Total's wedding, it had been so hard to leave her, and to hear her sobs as she found my letter. She hadn't known he'd been there, but he had and he'd seen the indestructable Maximum Ride destroyed by the one person she had given her entire heart to. Max, Max, Max. God he loved her so much.

Fang forgot how much it hurt the first time, and how stupid it was, but he punched the wall again in frustration. He wanted nothing more than to go back to the flock, to Max, but as long as He was there, they were in danger. So, no he couldn't go back. He ran forward and jumped off the edge of the cliff, freefalling until he almost hit the ground, then snapped his wings out and soared up into the sky.

* * *

"Sucker!" Iggy pelted me with chocolate chip cookie dough across the counter.

"Hey! You're ruining a perfectly good batch of cookies!" He laughed and through a bigger chunk at me, hitting me somehow. How could he possibly be blind with that kind of aim?

"It's worth it though!"

"Oh, it's on!" I grabbed some from the bowl and tackled him, slathering the dough all over his face.

"Alright, alright! I give up!" he put his hands up in mock surrender. I rolled off him and lay next to him on the floor. Laughing for the first time in what seemed like forever. Iggy was laughing so hard, it was silent.

"Is that laughing I hear?" Nudge came in and saw Iggy and me lying on the floor. Her jaw dropped. Her eyes ran slowly from the bowl of cookie dough, to my hands and clothes covered in it, to Iggy's face, which was almost unrecognizable. If it hadn't been for the spiky strawberry blond hair on his head and his stringbean shape, it would have been hard to tell who it was. This thought set me into another fit of laughter.

"It looks like a tornado swept through here!" She exclaimed. Then her dark face broke into a wide grin, "Finally! Something normal!"

"You think this is normal?" Iggy managed to say through his laughter. "I'm going to get you Nudge!" He leaped up nimbly and following her giggles, chasing her around the room, finally tackling her as I had done to him.

"Stop it! Stop it!" She shrieked. She was just as pale as Iggy and I now.

"Max, I could use some help here!" They yelled in unison. Banding together with my new best friend, I grabbed some cookie dough and slathered it on Nudge as Iggy pinned her down.

"Awesome!" Gazzy came sprinting in to the room. Nudge and I exchanged a look of terror, Gazzy in a food fight?

"SCATTER!" I yelled and pulled Iggy outside with me. "Up and away Ig, go!"

We jumped over the edge and fell to the ground, then snapped our wings out at the last minute and soared upward, still cackling at Gazzy's face.

"You can't run away from this!" He yelled and grabbing huge handfuls of dough, jumped into the air. He started pelting them at us.

"Never!" Nudge came up beside him and tackled him to the ground. I flinched but they landed safely and continued to wrestle, each trying to cover the other in dough.

"Thanks man, this was just what we needed." I said to Iggy. He looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"You didn't think I came up here unarmed did you?" He started to pull his hands out from behind his back.

"You didn't!"

"Oh, yes I did!"

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading and for any of you that have put it on story alert! You are awesome!**

**I am hoping for reviews though! I'd like to know what you liked, didn't like, it all matters! I've gotten 320 traffic but only 3 reviews :P**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! I would just like to know what you think! **

**Thank you so much for reading :D**

**-Skye**


	6. Chapter 5: Flown Away

**A/N: thanks guys so much for reviewing! love it! please keep it up! I need to know what you think! Pretty please?**

**Disclaimer: I am not James Patterson, but I do love Max Ride, characters belong to him, except for Fang's flock, they're mine :) Not Fang though :'(**

**ENJOY!**

**-Skye**

* * *

Chapter 5- Flown Away

Fang smashed his fingers on to the keyboard. This was so frustrating. Max was an email away but he couldn't contact her. It was too risky; he needed to stay away from her at all costs. There was no rule that he couldn't write about her though. Fang clicked on a folder entitled "Max" and began to type away. He pulled out his stolen mp3 player and began listening to music. Fang had found that ever since he separated himself from Max, music had been his soul comfort. He loved to write it, he loved to listen to it. He let the music drift in to his mind until he could think of nothing but the lyrics- and Max.

Everything reminded him of Max- Every word, every pitch, every phrase. He began writing down the most "Max" related lyrics he could think of.

_You don't know how hard this is, _he began, _I hate myself for even thinking of these things. But let's set the record straight boys and girls- I'm not emo. And I don't write poetry. That's why this blog won't be published… My eyes only… _

_You're the only one  
I'd be with till the end.  
When I come undone  
You bring me back again.  
Back under the stars,  
Back into your arms._

_Falling a thousand feet per second  
You still take me by surprise  
I just know we can't be over  
I can see it in your eyes_

And then he began to write to himself. All he wanted to do was fly away with Max- and he couldn't. So he wrote about it. His lyrics were the kind that Max would probably laugh at. He could see it now. She'd probably punch him and then mock him for eternity- If they only had that long… Good thing Max would never see these.

_Just aim for that blue sky, don't never ever lose hope, always keep on trying, and one day we'll fly away…_

_And I thought, would I ever come back down?_

_I'd only ask myself, if I had the chance to be with you forever, I wouldn't have a single doubt. _

_We'd gaze at the sky so full; I'd go the distance with you right by my side. _

_Endless smiles, and endless laugher, we'd spend every moment together. _

_When that day comes, we'll fly so high, we'll gaze at that full sky, and together we'll go the distance… _

_But baby, don't think I ever forgot, what you said to me, cause I'll always remember, your beautiful smile. _

He couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to clap himself_. _Did he think Max would find this sweet? No. Absolutely not.

_I know you'll want to mess up my face. That's why this blog won't ever be published. I couldn't live with myself if you knew I cared this much… _

_Fly on,_

_Fang_

And as he went to hit the 'save' button at the top left hand corner of the screen, he accidentally hit publish- And there it was. Fresh for millions of people to see, Fang's heart and soul poured out on a computer screen. And the comments were just rolling in

Amandaxox says:

Fang. You're my dream guy. Will you marry me? Or at least write me a song?

And Fang decided there was no point to resistance... He hit the reply button…

Fang says:

Sorry kid. I've got a date in 20 years- hopefully.

And then he saw the name. Nudge. She'd read the post.

Nudge says:

Who knew you were quite the romantic? I guess Max did. Oh don't worry, I won't show her this. But you should probably know that she reads your blog all- never mind…

Fang had no reply to that. Max would have read the blog by now… And then he saw what he'd hoped to never see,

.Ride. Says:

I'm breaking all the rules commenting on this. Don't tell Iggy. I just needed you to know I cared. I'm done now. I'll let you move on.

Yours featherly…

He had no reply to that. He'd gathered solid proof that she hadn't moved on yet. It gave him an odd twisted sense of relief. She wasn't off making out with Dylan…yet… 20 years was a long time to wait for someone.

He closed the lid of his stolen laptop with a loud thud. He'd just made things even more complicated between them.

He heard the flapping of wings above him. It was one of his other soul comforts. He was sitting in a park in a pretty much abandoned town in New Jersey. The fact he got a wireless connection was mind boggling. He imagined that there was a flock of birds, maybe geese flying above him. He'd never been so wrong.

He heard a thud on the pavement behind him and that's when he saw her shadow.

She was standing there smugly, hands on her hips but still tensed for action. He could see the silhouette of her messy hair blowing in the wind. All he could think was 'wow that was fast'. He began to wonder if Nudge had developed some new flock tracking skill.

Refusing to turn around, he muttered "Max".

"No, it's Alex."

"What? Who?" He spun on his heels.

The girl standing there had dirty blond hair, chocolate brown eyes and a complexion completely covered in mud. She had a certain smugness towards her that Fang could only think of one other person having. But strangest of all, the girl had a wingspan of about 13 feet. Her wings were angel white- Unlike Max's wings. Behind her stood another girl of about the same age. They both looked around 15 or 16. Next to the girl were three younger looking kids. One looked like he could walk a runway, right there on the spot. He was maybe 12. And the other two kids looked around 9 years old. They looked nothing alike however.

This could have been the exact answer he was looking for. But why had they come? How had these new bird kids found him?

"Alex, I think you'd better explain." Said the youngest girl. Mind reader? Absolutely.

"I'm Alex. I'm from the same lab as your friend Dylan. This is, Ian," She gestured towards the older boy behind her, "This is Angela," She pointed to the littlest girl, "Natalie", she looked back at the 12 year old "And this…" She began begrudgingly; "is Claw" She used air quotes around his name. The younger boy winked at Fang.

"That's all fantastic. So you know Dylan?" Fang asked suspiciously, "Don't tell me you were 'designed to be my soul mate'. Dylan tried that trick on Max…" He said sadly.

"Slow your roll there buddy. I'm not looking for love, I'm looking for help. You can give it to me."

"How so?"

"Sit down, Tooth, it's a long story..."

Mocking his name? Pretending she wasn't interested? It appeared Fang had found a new Max… The only problem was, what would happen between him and the old one?


	7. Chapter 6: Max is so last season

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Not to sound cliche but please review!**

**-Skye**

* * *

Chapter 6- Max Is So Last Season

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Fang refused to sit down until Alex answered his questions first. If nothing else, Fang had learned from Max to always, get his questions answered first, never give the opponent the advantage. Especially one who looked as dangerous as Max.

"I already told you," Alex looked exasperated. "I'm Alex, and we're here to help you. Now will you please just sit down! I have some things I need to tell you."

"Alright, talk. But you can sit." He moved cautiously through the group of mutants with wings.

"Whatever. I'm going to guess you know Dylan? This means you know Dr. H. Well, as you know he created Dylan. He designed us to be your successors. He didn't believe you'd last as long as you did and he wanted us for a completely different purpose. He wanted us to destroy your flock and start changing the world for the 'greater good'. We didn't like his plans, so we escaped."

"So what? You're here to win me over and then kill me when you have the chance? I don't buy it, I wasn't born yesterday, Alex. There's only a handful of people out there who genuinely _want _to help me- and I lost 5 of them about 2 weeks ago. So if you excuse me, I'd like to be alone." He was about to take off, he spread his wings.

"Fang! Calm down! I want to help you. I like what your flocks been doing for the world. Listen to me!" For Fang had looked away, "I want to help you, so if you'd listen I'd tell you some more details. Stop assuming that I'm trying to kill you!"

"_Come on Max! Can't we just assume Jeb went to the store? Why do we have to stalk him to see where he goes?" Fang looked at her, her big brown eyes turned to him, and his heart skipped a beat. _

"_Never, ever assume Fang. Because all assuming does, is make an ass out of you and me." She looked solemnly at him for a few seconds and then they were both rolling on the floor clutching their sides with laughter._

_Don't assume Fang. _He thought to himself. Maybe she really was trying to help him.

"Never assume," He muttered under his breath, almost involuntarily, although it was true, what Alex had said.

"Look, I'm here to talk to you about the new hybrid Erasers Dr. H has made." Fang's head snapped up. Erasers?

"Now I've got your attention," Alex smirked. Fang almost choked when he saw the likeness between Max and her. "Alright, combining human and avian DNA wasn't enough for Dr. H, so he combined human and lupine. He's mimicking Itec, but he actually knows what he's doing. These new Erasers are even deadlier. They're twice as strong as the old ones, they're twice as fast. They actually have human intelligence combined with lupine instinct. They look exactly like average people, and they can morph in under a second, while fighting or talking, or running, anything."

Fang's shoulders sagged.

"So, what else?"

"They're after something. I'm not sure what but they were hunting when we got out. We were supposed to scout from above, but we left, we'd stopped taking our obedience meds. All I know is that Dr. H keeps calling whatever they're hunting, the key."

"Is the key a person?"

"I'm not sure." Something inside Fang snapped. Whether it was the feeling that the new Erasers were hunting Max, or that he had far too much anger bottled up inside, he lost it. Closing the distance between him and Alex in two lightning quick strides, he pinned her against the wall, with one arm on her hand and the other across her neck and shoulders.

"Be sure."

"What are you going to do? Kill me? I'm the only source of information you've got on Dr. H, and those guys won't help you without me." She spat. Her face contorted with fury.

"Don't tempt me. You're holding out on me Alex. I wanted everything now, or else you're dead and I don't care how little those wannabes over there react. Start talking."

"I-I don't know anything more than I told you. But the key, they won't destroy it, it'll save the world."

That was all Fang needed to hear. Save the world. Max. He took off in super drive.


	8. Chapter 7: It's Been Way To Long

**Thank you guys so much for the reviews! Please keep it up! I'll keep trying to update quickly, but only if I get some reviews, just so I know it's okay, or if you hate it :)**

**Please!**

**-Skye**

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Chapter 7- It's Been Way Too Long

"Max! Pass the ball!" Gazzie yelled from across the field. The flock was playing a game of football on a back field in some school near our house in not-ever-telling Colorado. It was actually Dylan's idea. One of his better ones, if I had to admit it. Today was one of those days that couldn't be ruined by anything. Not broken hearts, not mutant recombinant DNA kid blues... nothing. The sun was shining so brightly it hurt my eyes, but I didn't care. Being outside and smelling the freshly cut grass and feeling the wind blow in my face was the best feeling in the world, next to flying of course.

The teams were Iggy, Dylan and Nudge, and then me, The Gasman and Angel. Note to self: ALWAYS CHOOSE MIND READER. My team was winning by a landslide. It was highly gratifying kicking Dylan's butt.

When I passed the ball, Dylan went for the intercept. I wasn't having that, I ran straight toward him, hoping to tackle him and run. It wouldn't be too hard, he wouldn't expect it. Dylan jumped in to the air to catch the ball, but he didn't keep running once he caught it, like I expected. He somehow managed to trip on his own feet- and he fell right on top of me. He was pinning me to the ground and I couldn't breathe. The ball still in his hand, his eyes pouring in to mine. Was he trying to create an extremely adorable moment? It wasn't working. I shoved him off and he smiled apologetically. I looked away. I was now covered in grass stains and dirt, which wasn't any different than the usual conditions I wore. But still- NO ONE tackles Maximum Ride and gets away with it.

"Awkward..." I heard Nudge whisper from behind me.

"What are you standing around for? Keep playing!" I ordered impatiently. I could feel my cheeks flush with blood. This was highly, highly embarrassing. Stupid Dylan. I picked up the ball and threw it to Angel.

The game kept going and Dylan didn't even touch me once. Smart move. My team ended up winning the game in the end. But by then we were having so much fun that it really didn't matter. The flock and I lay down on the field and looked up in to the sky. It was beautiful. I was looking at the clouds and thinking up pictures.

"That one looks like a giant ice cream cone. Like the ones from Hawaii." I said fondly.

"That one looks like a horse." The Gasman said

"I think it looks like a polar bear in a snow storm." Said Iggy.

"I'm rolling my eyes Ig." I told him. He pushed me playfully.

Dylan kept his opinion to himself. I almost felt bad... Almost.

"Well, I think it looks like an eraser." Said Angel.

Suddenly all my senses went on to red alert. It couldn't have been a cloud shaped Eraser. It must have been a real one. I leapt to my feet.

"Up!" I shouted to the flock. I watched as they all tensed for battle mode. 12 Erasers landed on the ground surrounding us. They looked like giant werewolves with wings. Attractive, I thought sarcastically. They were drooling and they smelled pretty foul. Fantastic. I loved the smell of wet Eraser almost as much as I loved the smell of Total after he came from a rainy walk.

The flock shot up straight in to the air and the Erasers did the same. Each of them split up into groups of two and attacked each of us in their pairings. It wouldn't be too hard to beat them. I spun around in the air and kicked one in the head. He fell back a little, but managed to recover. The other one flew behind me and grabbed my arms. I kept flapping my wings and hit him the face, then I kicked his knee cap back. He fell a little as well. Both of them were side by side now, coming for the obvious attack, I flew straight at them as well, fists held out, braced for impact. I flew between the two of them, spun around and kicked them both in the head. They fell to the field unconscious.

That was extremely easy. Too easy. I didn't suffer at all- I wasn't complaining, but seriously, what was up with that? I looked around me, Iggy had punched an Eraser that was trying to get to Angel and he had fallen to the ground at first impact. After a few more minutes, all the Erasers lay on the ground, completely unconscious.

"Now what do we do with them?" Dylan asked.

"Leave them here?" The Gasman said unsurely.

"No, we can't. People would find out we're here. Erasers mean bird-kids. The media would be all over this place." I explained.

At the same time, each of the unconscious and beaten Erasers rose from the ground. We all tensed for another battle, though the atmosphere wasn't quite as tense as last time. We knew what we were up against this time. Really slow, awfully unskilled Erasers.

But instead of attacking, they rose up to the sky in a V shaped formation and they all said the word "Reprogram". And with that they flew away.

"What the heck?!" Gazzie shouted.

"They weren't robots. I could read their minds." Angel said. This was extremely weird.

"Who's behind this?" Dylan asked. Wow. He was a real Einstein.

"Obviously Dr. H, genius." Iggy rolled his eyes.

What did he want though? That was the question we should be asking. Somehow, I felt like I knew the answer though.

"Since when did he make such shotty DNA experiments? These Erasers were a total fail." Nudge asked.

"Good question. We've got to find out what he's up to. And fast" Dylan said severely. Wait- hold up for a minute. Who died and made him leader? NO ONE- that's who. As long as I was still breathing I'd be in command. It was high time Dylan learned how things worked around here. And last time I checked, I was still breathing.

But that's just when I stopped. Oh precious irony, how I loved it. My eyes wandered to the sky only to find a pair of onyx wings and a tall, lean black shape descending towards the field. The wings were being followed by a group of 5 bird kids that mirrored my flock exactly. It was insane; it was like I was looking in a big giant sky mirror.

But I couldn't be bothered who they were, this moment was too important. 20 years must go by fast in _his _world. But that didn't matter either. Only one word came in to my head and it was one I'd almost forgotten how much I'd loved to say:

Fang.


	9. Chapter 8: Reuniting

**Thanks for reviewing please keep it up! I'm trying to update quickly and reviews are very motivating!!!!!!!!!!**

**-Skye**

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Chapter Eight- Reuniting

"Fang!" Nudge flung herself at him as soon as he landed. "Where have you were you? Do you know what you did to us? What's wrong with you?"

"Nudge, chill" The girl next to Fang said while laughing. She looked just like me, except she had dove white wings… That were spattered in blood. Actually Fang's entire flock was covered in blood. Of course! That's why it had been so easy, they'd been the front, only letting a few Erasers in, even then the Erasers were tired.

"Shut up Max wannabe." Nudge retorted. I cracked a smile.

"Fang." Dylan inclined his head. Fang ignored him. I forgot how good it was to look at him again. It was like the sun coming out from behind a multi-week storm. Beautiful and strong. His black hair danced in the wind, too long again. Obviously he hadn't had a haircut in a while. Even covered in blood, I could see his handsome features. The dark, unrevealing eyes, that I had seen light up so many times. The high cheekbones that transformed into the face of an angel when he smiled, such as when he smiled at me. His perfectly shaped lips, that I had kissed long ago. He had gotten taller. I had missed him so much! But as I drank the sight of him in Max clone shifted slightly closer to him and whispered something in his ear which made him smile slightly. Suddenly all happy, warm and fuzzy feelings were gone. I tensed up. Iggy felt the change and pulled me over to the side of the field as Gazzy and Angel tackled Fang.

"What's wrong Max?" He blocked my path of view to Fang and the she-witch.

"Can't you sense her? She's just like me, with different colour wings. She's whispering in his ear. She can not have him! How stupid is she? I'm the only one for him." More quietly I added, "I have to be the only one for him, because he's everything to me, I couldn't bear to see him with her."

"Max, I'm so sorry. You know Fang loves you. It's why he left, and chances are why he came back. You just have to give him a chance." Iggy said gently. My head snapped up and my voice rose. I knew everyone could hear my words but I didn't care.

"Give him a chance?! Why should I? He left Iggy! Did you see what happened when he left? What if he decides to pack up again and leave? I can't survive another one Ig! I hate this feeling I've got right now! It's like hate, love, anger, happiness, sadness and cautiousness all mixed up into one. I can't decide what to do. I can't decide between killing him, throwing myself at him, crying, or running away." My voice broke and I lowered it. "I just don't know."

"I understand. He left the rest of us too Max. I know you loved him differently than the rest of us, but we loved him too. He left everyone. I'm not going to go give him a bro hug anytime soon. It'll take time, but we'll get through it. Alright?" His sightless eyes stared right into mine. Kind of creepy, but still comforting.

"Okay. Thanks Ig." I touched his arm and headed back to the others.

"Hey Max, about earlier, I swear I hadn't meant to make anything awkward, I respect you too much for that. But I will say one thing, I can't hide what I feel. I don't think Dr. H programmed me like that. I apologize in advance." Dylan said to me as soon as I reached the others. Seeing the hopeful look in his eyes reminded me of a lost puppy, so of course I melted a little on the inside. What can I say? I'm a sucker for puppies, especially lost ones.

"Don't sweat it Dyl, you know I'll beat you up if you get too close." I smiled and whacked him on the arm.

"Ouch! Not fair!"

"Yes, quite fair I think, and I also think you deserve this, because no one else gets to tackle Maximum Ride without paying!" I tackled him, careful to keep it a textbook tackle. But I forgot Dylan was a textbook. He flipped me over and my happy demeanor slipped. I put my gameface on and we started to fight. All my frustration over Fang game out and Dylan obviously had anger of his own, because I found I was actually having to try. We leapt up to standing and I snapped a kick at his chest, he caught my leg and flipped me around but I scissored my other leg to smack his hand to let go of my foot before I hit the ground. He groaned again then threw a punch at my face. I snatched his fist and using a move Fang and I had practised many times before, with a special twist, Dylan's entire body flipped over and I stood over him.

"One, two, three, pin!" I laughed and slapped the ground beside him. He grinned.

"You didn't have to hit that hard Max." He rubbed his back.

"Yes I did." I looked over and saw Fang watching with a blank expression. Only when he met my eyes with his own did I see the murderous rage seething in them. He took a step towards me. Then another and another until he was only a couple feet in front of me. The tension in my body was so tight I could hardly move. His mouth quirked up at the corner as I had to look up at me.

"I never thought it would be this fun looking down on you." He smirked.

"Haha, you're funny. Don't forget I can still pound you to a pulp." At this his face stretched into a grin. I'd be okay as long as he didn't say the one word I wouldn't be able to handle coming out of his mouth. Luckily, that was far from what he did say.

"As if you'd actually pound me to a pulp. You love me so much. Just like I love you, and I am not ashamed of it." He spread his hands out for effect, just like her had when I'd had my chip taken out. This comment was something I could answer to with emotion.

"Well if I you love me as much as you say, why did you leave?" I spat.

"To protect-"

"Don't you dare say it was to protect me, because you know as well I do, the only thing I needed protecting from at that moment was you leaving me." Which was exactly what you did. Fang flinched back as though he'd been slapped across the face.

"We both know that is not true. If you would just give me a chance to explain then-"

"Why should I give you a chance? Ask anyone here, that was here, you did a lot worse than a bunch of Erasers, or heck, even the end of the world could have ever done to me." My flocks' heads all bobbed frantically in unison.

"Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." He quoted.

"Is that so?" I asked, deadly quiet.

"Well, I used to think that."

"You're going to have to revise. Max can break my bones and her words can make me cry."

"That doesn't rhyme."

"Niether does this." I launched myself at him. Normally I would just punch the lights out of people and be done with it, but Fang needed a little more, in my humble opinion.

He stumbled backwards and fell, my weight toppling him over. I forgot what it felt like to feel his arms around me and I hesitated for a second then raised my hand back. He didn't even fight back, he let me punch him without a word.

"Fight back." Punch. "Fight back!" Punch. "FIGHT BACK! After everything you did to me, the only thing I want from you is to fight back, and you won't do it! Fight back, for God's sake fight back."

"Max." The word was soft and I crumpled off him onto the ground. He said the word I couldn't handle as though he was savouring it, using it for the first time in ages and remembering how good it felt.

"Fang." I had thought his name so many times. Usually with such sadness, occasionally with hate, sometimes both. But I had never said it with fear. Which I was. I was scared of him. Of what he could do to me if he left again. I had never been so scared in my life. I leapt up and snapped my wings out, then without any previous moving or anything, I shot into the sky.

Fang's POV of the reuniting

I saw her head whip around as she saw me. It was all I could do to not drop to the ground, sprint to her, and take her in my arms to never let go. But that wasn't going to happen was it? As my feet touched the ground I saw the look in her eyes and I swear to God I understood right then why Max was the most terrifying person I knew. She was still as stunning as before, if not more so. She had only grown a little bit, so I towered over her now. Her wings were fairly clean despite the previous battle. She stood independantly, as if determined to appear disconnected. Her brown eyes were the only things that gave her away. As beautiful as always, they glared at me with hate and sorrow. I had seen Max angry before, but never had she truned her wrath on me from her eyes alone. The only time I had ever seen that hurt before was when I left the flock so Ari could be there and when I had been with the-red-haired-wonder or Bridget. The only time I had seen that anger ever was directed at Jeb or the Director/ Anne... Before I could say anything Nudge threw herself at me.

"Fang!" Her grip tightened around my neck. I just kind of stood there. Don't get me wrong, I love Nudge, it's just that I'm not a hugger, with the exception of a couple people, or a person. Usually I stand there awkwardly, like now.

"Where were you? Do you know what you did to us? What's wrong with you?" She asked. Alex told her to chill and Nudge snapped back at her. I looked at Max and saw her apraising me with her eyes, almost as if she were inspecting me.

"Shut up Max wannabe." Alex actually closed her mouth and I saw Max almost crack a smile. Nudge slowly released me when she saw my eyes were only on Max.

"Fang." Dylan inclined his head. I ignored him. Alex came up next to me and whispered in my ear, ugh creepy.

"Looks like you made the right decision coming back here. A certain group of bird mutants seem to have missed you." Despite myself I couldn't help but smile slightly. As soon as I smiled I relaized what that would have looked like to Max. The smile slipped off my face and my gaze snapped back to her from Angel and Gazzy who were tackling me now. Iggy pulled her over to the side of the field and she followed. They started talking to each other softly and I remembered when I was the person she would come to when she felt terrible, when she needed comforting. My mood dropped considerably. Yes, Fang, king of no emotion, got sad.

Iggy said something and Max's voice rose. I could hear every word she said. She threw word after word out of her mouth and I flinched at almost everyone. Everything she said was painful to hear. It especially sucked when she started talking about not being able to survive me leaving again. Let this be a lesson to any other mutant bird kids living in a flock out there. DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH FLOCK MEMBERS. Life sucks after that. Sorry to break it to you.

Her voice broke and Iggy shut her up with a couple words. He started talking softly again and her shoulders kind of slumped. They came back over and I busied myself with Angel and Gazzy. Dylan sidled over to her. He was talking about tackling her. Dylan tackled Max? That's it I knew it. I should have never left. Not that I had been in the right before but now it was just so much worse! Dylan? Really Max?

"Hey Max, about earlier, I swear I hadn't meant to make anything awkward, I respect you too much for that. But I will say one thing, I can't hide what I feel. I don't think Dr. H programmed me like that. I apologize in advance." My hands curled into fists and it was all I could do not to launch myself at him.

"Don't sweat it Dyl." I stopped listening as she forgave him; it almost looked as though they were flirting. I felt sick. Then I heard her tell him he was going to pay. This time Max tackled him. I heard my own sharp intake of breath. Dylan and Max were fighting textbook style on the ground, rolling over until they stood up and I realized Max and Dylan were really fighting. Max snapped a kick at his chest and they went from there. Finally Dylan lay at Max's feet. It was very hard to resist the triumphant feeling I got from that picture. So, in typical lazy Fang fashion, I didn't.

"One, two, three, pin!" She laughed and the entire world lit up, then she laughed at him as she used to laugh at me. He grinned and I drew blood as my hands curled tighter.

Her eyes finally met mine. I took a step towards her. She didn't move. She just stood there looking kind of dazed. I took another, and another, until I reached her.

"I never thought it would be this much fun looking down on you." I smirked. Fang= smirk.

"Haha, you're funny. Don't forget I can still pound you to a pulp." Max snapped back. The butterflies in my chest joined together to make a giant knot.

"As if you'd actually pound me to a pulp. You love me so much. Just like I love you, and I am not ashamed of it." I spread my hands out for effect. I immediately regretted it. It was like unleashing a monster.

"Well if I you love me as much as you say, why did you leave?" She spat.

"To protect-" I tried to explain, but nothing was working.

"Don't you dare say it was to protect me, because you know as well I do, the only thing I needed protecting from at that moment was you leaving me." I flinched back, it had felt like a slap across the face.

"We both know that is not true. If you would just give me a chance to explain then-"

"Why should I give you a chance? Ask anyone here, that was here, you did a lot worse than a bunch of Erasers, or heck, even the end of the world could have ever done to me." Her flocks' heads all bobbed frantically in unison. Her flock. Oh God what had I done?

"Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." I quoted, because I am a genius.

"Is that so?" She asked. Her voice sank to a deadly, quiet level.

"Well, I used to think that." I scrambled to make up for my stupid response.

"You're going to have to revise. Max can break my bones and her words can make me cry."

"That doesn't rhyme." Put down the shovel Fang and take your foot out of you mouth, I ordered myself. It didn't work.

"Niether does this." She launched herself at me. I fell back, her weight toppled me over. Despite the circumstance I couldn't help the kick my heart gave at the feeling of my arms around her. She raised her hand and punched me. It hurt so badly I felt the bruise show immediately. Yet, I knew I deserved it and just took it. She started to yelled at me.

"Fight back." Punch. "Fight back!" Punch. "FIGHT BACK! After everything you did to me, the only thing I want from you is to fight back, and you won't do it! Fight back, for God's sake fight back."

"Max." It was soft, but a single word had never felt so good to say. Her weight removed instantly.

"Fang." It was like music to my ears. Then she snapped her wings out and took to the sky. My breath literally went away. She stopped, a stark outline against the sun, so beautiful it was painful. Then she took off on hyperdrive.

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**A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review! Not to sound cliche of course ;P**


	10. Chapter 9: Clone Wars

Chapter 9- Clone Wars

The next 20 minutes of the awkward 'greeting' were filled with Alex informing my flock of the danger that was about to come. It bothered me how much she spoke like me and acted like me. Every little thing about her was annoying. Did that mean I hated myself? Yeah I guess so- seeing as how she was me in every single way. And that explained why Fang was hanging on her every single word. The black shiner on his eye was highly satisfying however.

"So, what do you plan on accomplishing by 'rushing to our rescue'? We've beat Dr. H on our own before… Why do you think we need your help?" I asked Alex.

"Because you have no idea what you're up against this time." She began fiercely, "You need my help."

"Oh really… Because, as I recall… Now, I'm just guessing here, you weren't around for the past 15 years… When… Oh…I dunno, _my flock _successfully over came every single obstacle that's been thrown at us- without your help. And now the _six _of us are doing just great." I looked pointedly at Fang. And maybe…just maybe, I inched closer to Dylan and Iggy. He rolled his eyes at me.

"Okay, well I see this will be difficult." Said Ian. He looked just like Iggy, only he could see. Iggy was totally jealous.

"Look," Fang began, taking the lead for the first time since he'd gotten back, "I know there are some pretty bad feelings emulating between our flocks and I want it all cleared up right now. This is bigger than who loves who and who hates who." He looked at me. I hated it when he was right…

"Okay. I'll start." I smiled evilly at him.

"Fang, you suck. The end" And I wheeled around out of the room. Alex followed me. What the heck? What gave her the nerve to think she could just waltz around _my _house and whisper in _my _Fang's ears?

"What, may I so kindly ask, do you want from me?" I asked her in an acidic tone.

"Okay, so let's turn this around. Maybe, just maybe, I want _your _help. Maybe I'd like to beat Dr. H and I can't do it without you. Then what would you say."

"I'd say good luck and good riddance." Okay, so maybe I was being immature.

"Max. We're talking about saving the world. Fang's right. This is bigger than our stupid little feuds. If you want to save the world- get over him."

I couldn't believe it. She was telling _me _how to act? She had the nerve to tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing?

_She's right Max. Stop being a baby. _My voice was back. _SHUT UP! _ I screamed internally.

"If you want my help, get over yourself." I crossed my arms. "You think you're so great, 'look at me! I'm Alex I can save the world and be the new Maximum Ride!' Not happening honey. Sorry to burst your bubble. Now if you'd excuse me, I'd like to focus on how my flock and how I can beat this psycho. If you'd like to help us, you can be backup. But I'm making it very clear right now. _We don't need you._" And with that I turned on my heels again and waltzed back in to the living room as if nothing had happened. A stunned (and most likely angry) Alex followed me in.

"Okay so here's the deal-"

"That's more like it." Fang winked.

"You," I pointed at him. "Yeah, you're going to shut up right now, and speak when you're spoken to." I smirked at his expression. His black eye was swelling. Oh sweet victory.

"Okay, so as I was saying," I started again, "We need to train. You guys clearly aren't as skilled as my flock," I looked to Ian, Angela, Natalie and 'The Claw', "So it's my flocks' job to teach you. Are you guys down for that?"

"Absolutely. We want to help any way we can." Natalie nodded.

"We'll need to know how to fight off Erasers of this caliber," I started again. I paused. Grudgingly, I turned to Alex, "What can you tell us about them?"

"They're bigger, better, faster and stronger than anything you've been up against. You don't know how hard they are to fight. You'd gotten to them after we had." She said smugly.

"Mhm. So kay, fight training. We'll start later. Got it?"

The Gasman and The Claw groaned in unison. They'd be great friends, I swore it.

And with that, everyone but Dylan, Alex and Fang left the living room.

Suddenly, realization dawned on me. Fang was back. It was what I'd been waiting and now that it was here I was acting petty instead of cherishing every moment I might have left. Why the heck was I doing that? And then I saw Alex put her hand on Fang's arm. Oh right, that's why. Well, Mr. Fang, two can play at that game.

"Hey Dyl, do you want to go fly or something? It's getting really crowded in the house…" I said in my best attempt at a Bridget-esque voice. I swore I could see the hatred brewing inside Fang. It was highly gratifying. He'd caused me pain; it was time to get him back.

"Uh…sure?" Dylan agreed unsurely. I didn't blame him. After all, I'd treated him pretty badly in the past.

"You know what Alex? I think I need some air… Come with me?" Fang said, his eyes pouring in to mine. I could hear his thoughts in my head.

_What the hell are you doing? I came back for you and you're throwing me away?_

I looked back at him. I was pretty sure he could see my '_you're clearly in love with Alex' _expression.

He shook his head at me and wheeled towards the door. Alex following.

"UGH." I stormed towards the door and took off in super drive. Dylan following behind me.

"Max. Don't be an idiot." He sounded like my voice.

"I'm not." I said through tears. I was crying. Fantastic.

"Land. Now." He said authoritatively. And I actually listened…

I descended at full speed and landed on the surface with a loud thud. I sat up against a large tree. One look at Dylan and I automatically wished it was Iggy standing in his place.

"I know you're going to tell me this is none of my business- but tell me what's wrong. Talk to me." He crossed his arms.

"It's Fang, idiot." I said. What the hell did he think was wrong?

"Well no duh. But I want you to talk to someone. Let whatever it is out."

It was like all my barriers broke down, I was revealing what I actually thought to Dylan. The full truth. _Everything. _

"Fang's just so stupid! Every time things are going good with us he messes it up completely! He either gets another girl or he just flakes and LEAVES. And he thinks that he can just come back here and everything will be okay? Nice try buddy, NO IT WON'T. AND IT'S STUPID. AND I HATE ALEX, AND I HATE YOU FOR BEING SO NICE TO ME. AND- AND" I took a deep breath. "I hate how you somehow understand me better than Fang right now. I need to talk to him and I wish he were here instead of you, but I feel like I can talk to you more now. And I feel like you can understand better. The time apart built up this wall between us and now that he's back I feel like the wall between you and me's broken down. And I hate it. I can't stand it- and I-"He cut me off.

"Of course you feel this way." He said in a somewhat smug tone. I wanted to punch him right then and there.

"Hold on, hold on, I don't mean it that way. It's because that's how Dr. H meant for it all to happen. You were for me and Fang was for Alex. Fang just doesn't know it yet. Alex won't have told him yet, I can guarantee it. She's trying to build up a relationship, just like I am- and I hope you can forgive me for that. But this was how I was made Max. I can't _not _feel this way. It was how I was programmed. Dr. H installed a chip in my arm and Alex's arm. It's what's making us the way we are. We can't help it."

I brushed my hand over my scar. I was reminded of Fang's face when I nearly cut my arm off. The fear in his eyes, the love I could feel between us. We could look at each other and speak without saying a word. Fang was my soul mate- and yet I was here with Dylan.

"Thank you Dylan." I said.

"No problem." He hugged me with one arm. It was comforting- and I hated it.

"Let's go back." I stood up for takeoff and leaped in to the air, Dylan following closely behind me.

When we got back in to the house, everyone was in the backyard, Fang and Alex included.

Dylan and I sat down next to Iggy on the grass.

"Alex is telling us more about how to fight off the erasers." Iggy said.

"Oh really." I said stiffly. Fang seemed to be hanging on her every word. EW.

"Fang, come here, help me demonstrate." She looked over to him. EW again.

They both rose up in the air.

"Now," She began. I didn't like where this was going. "Fly about 30 yards back and come at me full speed from behind. Use force and strength, don't focus on brains, the Erasers are more focused on using their physical assets."

Without a look at Alex or me, Fang flew 30 yards away from where we were all watching.

"Now!" Alex shouted at him.

Fang zoomed forward at full speed, but instead of attacking her, he grabbed her around the waist. She couldn't move her wings or get free.

"So," She said between fits of giggles, "Always be ready for an attack from behind," She laughed again, "Because if you're not, you're pretty much dead."

Angel was beaming. Fang was smiling, Alex was giggling like an idiot. LOVE MY LIFE? No.

"Thank- you Captain Obvious." I muttered, and I stood up and stormed in to the house, Dylan didn't follow like I thought. I slammed the door only to hear it open again.

Mr. Tall Dark and About to Get a Bloody Lip, was standing there, arms crossed, staring at me.

"What do you want?" I asked. Great, I was crying again. I flipped my hair so that it was covering my eyes and I turned away from him.

I heard him walking forward, so I did the same. He followed me until I had reached my room. With one last look I wheeled around and slammed the door in his face.

Note to self: Love sucks.

Note from 'voice': _Deal with it._


	11. Chapter 10: Different

Chapter 10- Different

I sat on my bed and cried. Again. I had turned into a cry baby. It was all Fang's fault, just so you know dear readers. I had never cried so much in my life until he had come around and I had fallen in love with him, basically ruining my life. Honestly, I was fed up with it. I _wanted _ to be mad. I _wanted _to cause _him _pain, and Dylan was perfect for that, but he was also too smart to be used. Alex? Really Fang?

I wiped my eyes and checked my face in the reflection of the window to see if it looked like I had been crying too much. It did, too bad. I stood and walked over to the door. I knew who I'd find outside the door, and my hand froze on the door handle. It was like attempting to walk into a room you knew was full of Erasers that wanted to kill you. I turned the handle.

He was sitting against the wall with his hands knotted in his hair. All my breath let out, he was just so hard to stay mad at when he looked like that, but then I remembered the Alex incident and all my anger came flying back.

"Come here. We need to talk." I kept my voice at a monotone and Fang's head snapped up. He met my eyes and flinched. He stood and came in to my room.

"Just as messy as always." He tried.

"No, actually it's cleaner. I've learned from spending time in here, that a clean room is easier to cry in." I tried desperately to snatch those words back, but I couldn't, so I settled for Fang's shoulders slouching.

"We need to talk Max." Just had to say my name, didn't he!

"Yes we, do that's what I said before genius. I'll start with a question. Why did you leave without saying good bye, in person? We could have talked it out. Instead I come in from a wedding to find a letter that sent me into a depression that Jeb tried to get pills for me to take to make it better." I flung my words at him. What was the point in being nice? If he wanted nice, he could run back to Alex.

"I tried to tell you before Max, I left to protect you. Dylan explained to me that I was a danger, and it kind of stuck with me until it was unbearable and all I could think about was that someday, I might end up killing you." It was longest sentence I had ever heard pass between his lips.

"Well, you killed me. Did you consider that? Did you take into consideration that you could emotionally kill me? To the flock? Nudge may seem fine, but you didn't see her for the next week. It got better after a week, as it did with Gazzy and Angel. But Iggy? He's still not over it, like me. It has been a long hard journey to even get us to the point of being able to talk to you." Fang slouched against the wall, his face full of pain and I felt the familiar tug to comfort him, to take it all away. I ignored it.

"I considered it Max, and I watched you get that letter. Yes, I watched as your face crumpled, as I destroyed the only girl I would ever love. As I destroyed the indestructible Maximum Ride. I watched as you sent Nudge and Angel to go tell Iggy, Gazzy and Dylan, and as you sank into hysterics after they left. I felt my heart literally break. I had to leave Max, and I had live with that image burned into my mind. I turned around eighty-six times on my flight away. I ended up within sight of the house, and I turned around again. You have to understand me when I tell you I left because I love you. Alex can do whatever the heck she wants, but I will always love you. Only you." Correction, that was the longest speech Fang had ever given.

"You didn't have to leave." I said quietly, even though I knew, from Fang's thinking, he honestly thought he had to. He ignored the statement and shuffled next to me on the bed. I didn't move. His leg pressed against mine and my heart skipped a couple beats. He put a hand to my face and turned it towards him.

"Do you think you still love me?" He asked in a whisper.

"I know I loved you with everything I was. I don't know now. I certainly tried to stop, we'll have to see how that worked out. But Fang, we will never be the same again, I hope you understand that." I stared directly into his eyes as I spoke. When I finished I brought my hand to his face and brushed it along his features, forehead, cheek, nose, chin, and lips. He closed his eyes.

"We'll have to see." I repeated quietly, and softer, then left the room, as I turned to look at him from the doorway, his eyes were still closed but I saw a single shimmer of a tear on his cheek.


	12. Chapter 11: Reuniting Take Two

Chapter 11- Re-Uniting, Take Two…

Night had come and gone in the blink of an eye. I was still trying to comprehend what had just happened between Fang and me. Did I love him or was I mourning over the idea of him? Why had I been so upset just two days ago but now I didn't- I couldn't- just take him back like I always wanted? I missed his laugh, I missed seeing him smirk, but it felt like it wouldn't be the same if I let him back in now. Memories flooded my mind. Fang across from me at the school, Fang and I learning how to fly together, Fang kissing me for the first time, seeing the intensity of his dark eyes when he told me he loved me… It was all so much to deal with.

The sun rose nearly two hours ago and I started to hear movement within the house. Hungry and sleep deprived, I opened the door of my room and walked to the kitchen.

"Morning" Iggy groaned.

"Breakfast?" I asked him.

"Eggs?" He asked.

"Sure." I said shortly, walking over to the fridge to pour juice for myself and Iggy.

"Are you okay?" He asked me, suddenly alert.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. Mornings…You know me…" I muttered, taking a swig of juice.

Iggy walked over to the stove and began cracking the eggs over a pan. I slouched down on the kitchen table. The cool glass felt good on my face. The temperature sent chills up my spine. I turned my head and moaned, only to see Fang enter the room.

He nodded at Iggy and then grabbed some cereal and poured it lazily into a bowl. His hair was tousled and his eyes weren't fully open yet. It didn't look like his brain was functioning yet either… He sat down opposite me at the table and started eating. The scent of scrambled eggs was wafting over from the stove. I was just so hungry…

Two minutes later, Fang stood up and left the kitchen without a word, running his fingers through the knots in his hair. I heard him slam his bedroom door.

"Fantastic." I said with false enthusiasm. "I really needed that…"

Iggy set the plate of eggs down next to my head and I sat up. I was so hungry I could have eaten the plate. Like usual, Iggy had made enough for three, which was definitely enough for me.

"Look." Iggy pulled a chair over straddling it, the back of it facing me. He was pretty coordinated for a blind guy. "I know you don't want to hear it, but just listen. Love sucks. Trust me, I get that, but this is about something bigger than that. You and Fang are like magic together. If you guys are so awkward that you can't even say two words, we're not going to win this fight." He was sounding like Alex… And he was right… "Dylan isn't even half the man Fang is. You can't replace him so don't try. Swallow your pride and show some humility. Go talk to Fang."

"He can talk to me when he's ready." I said stubbornly.

He looked at me disbelievingly. "Funny. I was under the impression, _you _sent _him _away yesterday. Sounds to me like it's up to _you _to fix this now. Be the bigger person Max. I know you'll do the right thing." He stood up and took his plate off the counter and left to go sit in the living room. I heard the distant voices of the TV in the background… Saturday morning cartoons… Hmm… Poor road runner… That stupid Coyote never left him alone… Iggy must have really wanted me to talk to Fang. He barely every watched TV- heck- Iggy couldn't even see the TV.

I knew Iggy was right. He was telling me the same thing my voice had been telling me, and the same thing Alex had been telling me. I could hear the flocks waking up now too. I 'graciously' let Alex and Ian share the spare bedroom… This was essentially the size of a closet. Natalie and Angela were staying in Nudge and Angel's room. Gazzy and The Claw were sharing a room too. If I didn't do it now, I wouldn't ever do it. I sighed and pushed the chair back from the table and knocked on Fang's door. He had music blaring and he didn't answer on the first knock. I hit it again, harder this time. No answer.

"FANG!" I banged on the door. "You better be decent, I'm coming in!" I shoved the door open. His room was exactly like it was when he left… There were clothes all over the floor- which I could barely see.

"What do you want?" He asked, turning down the music.

"I don't like the way we left things last night." I told him.

"Well neither do I. What do you want to do about that?" He asked sarcastically.

"Look, I'm here to apologize. Hold the sass."

"Apologize away… I don't get what you have to apologize for…" His tone was non-chalant but I could see his muscles tensing. He was wearing a very thin white tank top, which complimented his physique beautifully. Dammit…

"I know I told you things wouldn't be the same." I bit my lip, "But I can't hide all the history we have together. And this- what we need to focus on- is bigger than what you and I had- _have_. We need to work this out before it's too late. We can't beat anyone when we're fighting. When we're together we can't lose. I need you to forgive me, and in return I'm going to forgive you."

"What am I forgiving you for?"

I sighed, "Everything I said last night. Just forget it all, and let's just focus on doing what's best for the flock…" I paused, "I know you're all for that." I immediately regretted the words after they came out.

"You're right Max. I am. But it feels like you can't grasp that concept. I _need _you to know that what I did was for the flock. I did it for you. I thought that while we were apart, you could focus more on the well being of the younger kids. I thought you didn't need distractions. And I thought leaving you was what was best." He stood up. "But I can see that that was the worst mistake of my life. I'll regret it for as long as I live. We're better together- and I have nothing to forgive you for, but I ask this one favour. I need _you _to forgive _me. _And I know that's what you're doing now, but I can see it in your eyes Max. You don't truly forgive me for how I hurt you- and it's tearing me up inside. I still love you, and I know it won't be the same as before, but I want it to be enough- Enough to get us talking again at least. Seeing you this morning and not even being able to say hello hurt me so badly that you can't comprehend. Seeing you with Dylan, hearing the way you sound so sure and so great without me. This was exactly what I wanted. When I left I needed you to move on, but now that I'm back, I regret it. It was the stupidest thing I've ever done. We've split up before, but never like this, and I can only hope you can truly find away to see past all my mistakes Max. I love you." He whispered the last sentence.

It was one of the longest speeches Fang had ever made. And come to think of it, every time he had made a long speech, it was about how much he cared about me. Fang really did love me- I could see that- people a million miles away could see that. And truth be told, I did understand why he had to leave. But that didn't take away the pain that I felt when he had left. I knew I had no right to be mad at him- and truth be told I wasn't, but the time apart was just so agonizing that seeing him again… it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either… It was different. We didn't handle breaks well.

He opened his mouth again to speak, "I'll never be the same if you can't forgive me Max. You have every right to be angry with me. But please, _please, _give me a shot."

"Fang, the thing is… I don't have any reason to be mad at you. You left to protect us. You did something completely and utterly unselfish and I was too self-centred to see that."

"Max," He looked at me pointedly, "You're the most unselfish, caring, beautiful person I know. Don't blame yourself for whatever this is."

"That's just the thing too. What is this? What are we now?" I asked him.

"I'm willing to be anything you need Maximum. I'll be your friend; I'll be your soul mate. It's up to you to decide. You know how I feel."

"I love you Fang. That's something that won't ever change. But we're different now" I said, the words that followed cut across my heart like a razor, "But now we need to focus on something more important than you and I. We need to save the world. I can't do that if we're doing whatever it is we do. I can't focus on us and the world at the same time. We both saw how that worked out last time. _You died. _I can't risk anything happening to the flock if I'm distracted again. I love you, but our time isn't here yet. Let's focus on something bigger and see what happens." I started sobbing. More crying- the downsides to being me… The tears came and went as they pleased…

Fang pulled me closer and cradled me in his arms. I looked up at his marvellous beautiful face. I saw the lips that I might not kiss again, the eyes that I'd been longing to look in to for what felt like eternity. With Fang it was all or nothing. I could do the selfish thing and kiss him, right then and there- Or, I could focus on the bigger picture- and that's what I had to do. I looked up at Fang one last time; I stroked the bruises under his eye, "I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be," he kissed the top of my head and then all too quickly, he let me go.

"What do we do now?" I asked him.

"It's up to you boss." He said, sitting back down in the spinning office chair.

"Well in that case," I said, still a little shaky, "We have to leave. The Erasers know where we are, it's not safe here anymore, you know it, I know it, and Alex and Dylan know it. We have to think of what's best for everyone else, and I say we leave."

"Where do we go?" He asked.

"Fang," I said, "Do we ever know where we're going?"

"Good point." He winked at me. And suddenly, the whole world seemed brighter.

"MAX! FANG! GUESS WHO'S HERE?" Nudge shouted from outside Fang's bedroom door. Fang slipped on a sweatshirt and the two of us left his room to see what she'd be shouting about.

"Mom!" I shouted. Standing in the kitchen was Ella, my half sister, Dr. Martinez, my mother and… Jeb, my…Dad… Biologically only of course. He gave up the right to be my father a long time ago.

I ran to my Mom and Ella and embraced them in a huge hug. "I missed you so much!" Ella squealed.

"Ahem!" I heard a sarcastic cough below me, near my feet. Oh how could I forget? Everyone's favourite puppy pal, Total, was standing there, waiting for his greeting.

"Hey Total! How've you been?" I asked, still hugging my Mom and Ella.

"Fantastic!" And with that, he went in to motor mouth mode- He'd learned too much from Nudge. "Guess what? Akila's going to have puppies!" He blabbered on and on… Angel picked him up and hugged him but that didn't stop him. Akila sat studiously by the kitchen table. Finally, Total ran over to Fang. He scooped him up off the ground and hugged him tightly, "I missed you, buddy" I heard Fang say quietly. All heads turned to Fang. He looked up at us awkwardly…

"Man's best friend…" He muttered, "You know how it is." He set Total down and winked at him.

"Look guys," I sat down next to Fang, "I'm really glad you're here- but- we have to- " Jeb cut me off,

"Leave. I know. We've been informed by an unknown source that someone's after you. They left a message with me. I don't know who it is and it's been virtually impossible to track the number. We came here to warn you actually."

"Consider us warned." I said bitterly,

"Where are you going to go?" My Mom asked worriedly.

"Who knows?" I answered, "We'll be on the run for a while, but we'll figure out who's looking for us. And don't worry, we'll be safe. We have re-enforcements," I looked begrudgingly at Alex and her flock. I introduced them all. The atmosphere became more relaxed after that.

"When are we leaving Max?" Natalie asked. Alex didn't like that.

"As soon as we can," I breathed, "I wish we had more time to talk to you guys," I looked at Ella and my Mom. Jeb stood there awkwardly.

_Leave tonight. Tomorrow's not safe while you're here. _My voice told me. I actually agreed with it this time.

"We need to leave tonight." Angel said. And there- right there was her downfall. Angel tried so hard to be me, but she wasn't- the little mind reader went so far as to monitor my thoughts just to be like me. I missed the days when she was just learning to talk. It was a happier, simpler time.

I rolled my eyes at Angel, "Yeah, great idea, Angel. Glad you thought of it," I said sarcastically. "Guys, get packing, grab the necessities. Back packs, food, water, Fang, bring your laptop; we'll need to stay connected."

"Be safe kids. Dr. G-H is unlike any other scientist you've faced." Jeb warned.

"We'll be okay." I said, and then I wheeled around to start packing.

Within the next half hour we were all ready and packed. Jeb, Ella, the dogs and my Mom were getting ready to leave too.

"Well, it was nice while it lasted…" Fang said.

"What?" Nudge asked him.

"Having a house" Iggy answered for him. "I really thought we could stay here this time."

"Yeah, I know what you mean Ig," Fang put one hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Iggy turned his head and walked away. I glanced at Fang from across the room. He was looking down at the floor. It was like watching someone kick a puppy- a cute adorable puppy. One of those puppies that got abandoned when it was born and then it lived on the street and- never mind… Stupid cute Fang. He made staying away so hard. I saw Alex walk over to him… and put one hand on his shoulder… How wonderful…

"Is everyone ready?" I asked. Collective murmurs of 'yeah' filled the room.

"Then let's get going."

I hugged Ella and my Mom good bye and gave Jeb an awkward one armed hug. I waved good bye to Total and Akila as well. We waited until the three of them pulled out of the drive away and then we positioned ourselves on the front lawn.

"Up and away guys" I said sadly.

The 11 of us rose up in to the air. Ew, I hated crowds.

I looked down sadly at the house. I'd miss this place. The houses and the cars below turned in to tiny specs, and pretty soon, we were among the birds.


	13. Chapter 12: Deserving

Chapter 12- Deserving

The wind in my wings was a strangely comforting feeling, that I really can't describe to non mutants like yourselves, sorry. The closest I can get is that it's like eating chocolate chip cookies, the smell is just addicting, like the pull of the wind. The first bite is like giving into the craving, it's like take off, and finally eating the rest of the cookie, pure joy is like the flight. As you can tell, I am a little cookie obsessed, and you would know that if you'd read my other books accounting my life that I have written down for you.

I caught Fang's eye a couple times, and gritted my teeth multiple times as Alex tried to fly as close to Fang as possible. Believe me when I say she failed, Fang and I had perfected the close flying. I did, however, notice Fang grimace when Alex got a little too close.

We finally stopped in an obscure little town somewhere in Pensylvania, about 10 miles out from Pittsburgh. The hotel was a small version of a big name, but hadn't been renovated in a fifteen years. Nice enough for us though! We squeezed through a window into a room so we wouldn't have to pay.

"Okay, Alex take your flock to the room next door, Fang you can stay with us. The _originals._" I put a little venom in my voice as I talked to her, it was just so hard to be nice to your twin, especially if you've had evil clones like me.

"Hey, Ig do you want to catch a hockey game in the city with me? Maybe grab a bite to eat? I'll tell you all about the hot girls checking out the players. Promise." Fang asked, but Iggy just shook his head walked away, muttering,

"What do you think I am? Thirteen?"

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Dylan went up to him. This would be interesting. "Can I join you? If you are that important to Max I figure I should make an effort to be get to know why." Fang grimaced just looking at him. I looked at him expectantly.

"Sure, why not?" He scowled at me. "We should get going though." They jumped out the window. I followed a safe distance. Instead of heading into the city like I thought they would they stopped in a little forest next to the town. There was a small picnic table and they both stood on either side of it.

"We both know why we're here so I'll start. You don't deserve Max." Fang said, glaring at Dylan.

"Neither do you." Dylan retorted. My jaw dropped.

"Excuse me? I've been with Max through everything. You convinced me to leave, which was the worst decision of my life. I acknowledge that and so does Max."

"Max deserves someone who can see past what everyone else says. Maybe you did believe me, but if you honestly think about it Fang, you were being selfish in leaving her after I convinced you. If you had truly looked you would have seen what your leaving would do. You only thought about keeping Max alive."

"Explain to me how that was selfish." They started to circle the table.

"You wanted her alive so you could come back in twenty years and not feel bad about it."

"You stupid idiot! I wanted Max alive so that Max would be alive. She has to save the world and I was holding her back. I would get them all killed and I couldn't handle that. Fear of losing me was stopping Max and her courage was what kept us all going. The day Max's fear took over her courage would be a sad and dangerous day, and I knew that if I left, her fear wouldn't continue to build, instead Max would be angry and an angry Maximum Ride is the most lethal thing I've ever seen in the world."

"Did you consider that you were the only one she had given enough of her heart to to break it? Maybe you though Max would be mad, but she's still a girl Fang. She's not invincible." As much as I hated to admit it, Dylan was putting up a very good argument against Fang. I stepped into view.

"You're both wrong. Dylan, I like to think of myself as invincible, even though I'm not, but I am a lot tougher to break than a lot of people out there. And Fang, you were completely wrong in thinking that I was fearful. I was not scared of losing you. I was mad at them for trying to take you away. What you don't understand Fang was that you made me fearless, _we _were fearless." I closed my mouth and was going to leave before I added, "By the way, neither of you deserve me so call it a truce and move on." With that I disappeared into the bushes again, just long enough to make sure they took off the city, then I went back to the hotel.


	14. Chapter 13: Boys Boys Boys

Chapter 13- Boys, Boys, Boys

"Stupid, selfish, ignorant boys!" I screeched when I reached the hotel room.

"I'm not a trophy that you win in a contest!" I continued, "Stupid Dylan. 'She's just a girl'" I quoted, "I'm NOT just a girl. I'm Maximum Ride. I can do whatever the heck I want because I am fearless, boyfriend or not. I should've just said no when Fang asked for my forgiveness. Saving the world has no mercy and certainly no time for stupid, idiotic, sexist boys!"

"Max?" A small voice came up behind me, "Who are you talking to?" It was Angel.

"No one sweetie… Just venting…" I mumbled. Like the mind reader needed to ask…

"Well, if it makes you feel better, you're too good for both of them." She smiled angelically. Cute kid, no wonder I kept her around.

"But of course… If you honestly think you need a boyfriend, I'd be glad to take over." She suggested.

"Absolutely not" I was suddenly reminded of why I had been keeping a distance from Angel lately. She was obsessed with taking my place. She wanted to be me and she wasn't so she couldn't take it "Go play with someone. I want to be alone." I dismissed her.

"Fine." She said glumly, and she slammed the hotel door.

"Ugh" I groaned, and I flopped down on the bed. Why was love so complicated? Wasn't it supposed to be this big thing where all the complications go away? Didn't being in love mean that you were part of a perfect fairytale? Or was it just that way when you found the proverbial one? Maybe Fang wasn't him. If there was anything I could take away from music and television, you have to fall in love so many times until you found the right person. All those times you fall are just leading up to the day when someone comes along and finally catches you. Maybe Fang wasn't the one who was going to catch me. And what about Dylan? I'd never given him a chance, what if he really was better for me? They say the one who is worth your tears is the one who won't make you cry.

I argued with myself internally for a good hour until there was a knock on the door, it was Fang.

"Where's Dyl-" I began.

"He's staying in the other room. Originals in here only, remember?" He said mockingly.

"I'm not in the mood for this." I turned my back to him.

"No one said you had to talk to me." He said bitterly.

"I concur." I said lightly.

"Look," He started, "I know I don't deserve you, but that doesn't mean Dylan does either. Just please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad." I lied. "Didn't we just go over this? I'm not mad at anyone for anything." I was denying the truth, but to be fair, I was a good liar.

"Yes you are. You're just a person Max. You can't do everything on your own. You need my help, and I'm willing to give it to you. Nobody knows your story like I do so just let me in. I don't like being on the outside. You're exterior's too strong for me to break into all on my own."

Silly Fang. He'd already broken in to it. He had enough of me to break my heart. And he did that. And no matter how hard I tried to get over that, it still happened.

"I'm not mad. Leave me alone before I really do get angry." I said icily.

"Fine Max. I'll go- but just tell me this, do you agree with Dylan? Do you think that I don't deserve you? Do you think he's the better choice? Do you think I'm selfish?"

I didn't answer. There was a long moment of silence. I had my back turned to him and I waited for the sound of his footsteps to disappear. Finally, I sighed and turned around, but he was gone. Stealthy thing wasn't he?

Then there was another knock on the door.

"Wha-a-at!" I groaned.

"It's me." Dylan opened the door.

"What. Do. You. Want?" I said severely. I'd taken enough of this.

"I wanted to tell you I'm sorry." He sat down on the chair across from me. "I know you don't feel the way I do and I know that I don't deserve you either. I'm just programmed to feel this way, Fang wasn't, he knows you like I don't, but I'd like you to give me a chance."

"I will give you a chance." I said, letting out a deep breath- "but not tonight. I just can't do this right now. Thank you Dylan." I smiled at him weakly.

He got up and left the room. That went much better than my encounter with Fang.

I looked at the clock on the night stand, it was nearing 11 and I could hear my flock making their way back to our room. I stood up and opened the door.

"Where are you going?" Gazzy asked.

"No where." "Ig, I need you to make sure everyone gets to bed _on time. _We're on the run again guys. We don't have time to stay up late like we did at…home… I'll be back in a few." I walked down the hall to the other flock's room. I knocked and Alex answered. I saw Dylan stand up hopefully.

"It's late and we're both tired, but the supplies we have aren't going to last forever. Are you up for a little late night heist?" I asked Alex.

She looked taken aback. Why was I asking Alex? I needed to talk to her alone, that's why.

"Um. Sure Max." She grabbed a sweatshirt that was lying on the bed. Fang had loaned it to her… "Dylan, get the kids to bed, we've got a long trip to prepare for. I'll be back in a few."

Just like me much? Yeah, you could say I was looking in a mirror.

"Why the sudden change in heart?" She asked me as we stepped outside.

"Oh, it's not I just need to talk to you." I started walking ahead of her, "Follow me." I waved behind me.

"You know, just because you're the leader of your own flock, it doesn't make you the leader of everyone in this entire universe. You can't tell me what to do. I command my own flock as well, what gives you the right to act superior?"

"Because I'm original. You're nothing but some grafted DNA put together with the sole purpose of capturing me. You were created _because of me. _Don't ever forget that."

She had no answer.

We were outside now and I was on the look out for a convenience store- and an ATM. Cash flow was running low lately.

"Where are we going?" She asked, annoyed. "And you still haven't told me why I'm here."

"Flock leaders should work together." I said with false enthusiasm. She shot a look at me, "But seriously, I wasn't going to go out solo, and Fang and Dylan are out of commission right now."

"Why?" Alex asked.

"I was going to ask you the same question."

"What does that mean?" She asked, confused.

"Well, Dylan's one of yours, and Fang… He's just so cryptic. I thought maybe he'd talked to you."

"So, you brought me here to talk about them?" She clarified.

"Maybe." I answered, mildly embarrassed.

"Dylan and I were made to be your and Fang's equals. The scientists at the lab created Dylan to be yours and me to be Fangs. When the rest of your flock expired, they intended for the four of us to fight together- be their puppets."

"But… What made them so sure Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel would expire?" I asked, secretly terrified.

"The scientists don't believe they'd serve a purpose."

"Even Angel?" I asked.

"They never talked about her."

"What? Why?" I'd always been under the impression that the white coats thought of Angel as some sort of prodigy.

"No idea."

We walked in silence until I spotted a shape across the road. It appeared to be moving towards the hiking trail a few feet away.

"What was that?" I asked.

"You saw it too? It looked like a person." Alex said.

"It _looked _suspicious."

"Check it out?"

"I like the way you think." I winked at her. She was growing on me… Sort of.

"Dylan would never do this with me. It's 'not my job to save everyone' he'd say."

"Fang would say that too. They're actually pretty alike- no matter how much they'd hate to admit it."

We silently stalked our way towards the cover of the trees. Whoever it was, I could hear them moving. The trees were rustling. Amateur, I thought to myself. Slowly, I unfurled my wings; the trees were high above us so we had enough room to hover above the mysterious person. I nodded at Alex and we started flapping our wings, rising in to the air.

As if the stranger had super-human hearing, he turned around the instant we moved closer,

"Who's there?" he asked firmly. Whoever this was, he was no stranger to hazards, and you could hear it from his voice.

The moonlight shone down between the branches overhead, leaving a lacelike pattern on the ground, the man's- no- the boy's face was masked by the shadows, so we were unable to make out his appearance.

Silence passed as Alex and I hovered overhead, he spoke again "I'm not going to hurt you if you don't hurt me. Show yourself." The voice was like smooth velvet, persuasive and dangerous, yet trusting. I lowered myself, folding in my wings.

"Who are you?" I asked him, mimicking his tones.

"My name is Jace." He held out a hand.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he interrupted, "I know who you two are," He smiled kindly, "Max and Alex. I've been looking for you."

"What? Why?" Alex asked, alarmed.

Now that we were at eye level, I could take in his features. The boy looked no older than seventeen and he was tall and slender, his muscles looked toned and he looked very athletic. He had golden blonde locks of curls and his eyes were a honey-comb shade of brown. Almost gold, they were mesmerizing. His skin looked pale under the night light but in daylight I could tell his skin would be more tanned.

"You see," He began slowly, but confidently, "We seem to have something in common, and I would like to help you and your flocks- if you let me."

"How do you know so much about us?" Alex asked cautiously. It seemed like my mouth was frozen shut, I was taken aback by Jace. He was so cool and confident, he wasn't scared of us yet somehow he knew everything about us.

"Because…" He looked to each of his sides, and he took off his sweat shirt, and slowly, he unfurled a pair of white angel's wings.

I took in a deep breath, "But, how? Our flocks are the only successful Avian-Human hybrids- how is this possible?" My ability to speak rushed back.

"I'm not like you" said Jace, "I was born human, I grew up human, but two years ago…" He broke off with a sharp breath.

"What is it?" I asked sympathetically. I had the urge to put one hand on his shoulder, but I held myself back.

"Two years ago I was taken by a group of scientists. I don't know who they were and at the time I didn't know what they wanted. They took me to California and they ran all sorts of tests. I barely remember my time there, but all I knew was that in about two weeks, the Jace I was before was gone. I was... this." He said, looking at his wings.

"I'd heard about other experiments while I was at the lab. Specifically one, and that was you Max," His eyes darted at me confidently, "And then I heard about a place of refugee in Colorado. The scientists spoke of it disapprovingly, but to me it sounded like a safe haven. Before I went to find this place, I went back home, I escaped. My parents saw what I had become and they told me they'd support me, no matter what. They offered to come to the refugee- they call it the institute- with me. When we arrived, there were other DNA grafted experiments there, receiving all the care they needed. Not many lasted long and now there are just three of us left. And we're all the same- bird kids."

"Why haven't I heard of this institute?" I asked him suspiciously.

"It's strictly confidential. I'm lucky I heard the scientists talking about it or else I don't know where I'd be. The original owners of it died last year in a car crash, they were just ordinary humans, and now my parents run the place. I've been looking for your flocks for a few months now. I think that we could help you. Give you a safe haven if you should ever require it."

"That's…" I began,

"A lot to take in." Alex finished for me.

"Tell you what," I started, "We'll come with you to this institute if our families agree to it. But first we have to take you back to meet them."

"No problem." He winked at me. "Meeting the family, that's a big step. You sure we're ready?"

"Hold the sass and follow me," I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help but laugh. He was so comfortable with himself. Anyone else would have been meek and quiet on a first meeting.

Alex shot me a glance and moved closer to whisper in my ear, "He's not Fang and we don't know him. Be careful." But despite her words, I could see her staring at Jace from the corner of her eye. She was just as interested in him as I was. I saw Jace smirk.

"What?" I asked him.

"I can sense feelings and emotions. It's a skill the scientists gave me." He told me simply.

"Oh," I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, "We're almost to the hotel." I changed the subject. I swore Jace was holding back the urge to burst out laughing.

"How did you find us?" Alex asked suddenly.

"The institute keeps tabs on the all of the labs around the world. We saw that someone was sending Erasers to Colorado and I knew there could be nothing there that deserved that attention but your flocks, so I came."

"They know about every lab that's done this? Why haven't they contacted the police, gotten them all shut down?" I asked incredulously.

"It's not that's simple. Leave it at that." He said more sternly.

Mood swings much? Absolutely

"How do we know we can trust you?" Fang folded his arms over his chest.

"How do you know you can't? What makes you think that I have some sort of motive? I'm _just like you, _Fang. The institute is the perfect place for all of you. It's completely discreet, it can't be found unless someone wants you to find it. It's completely safe." Jace said intensely, "I'm not saying you have to come, I'm just trying to help you guys."

Jace had just finished telling the flocks about the institute and his story of how he transformed.

Unlike Fang, Nudge looked hopeful, "Do you guys get to like, go to school and stuff? Normal lives?" My heart dropped. Poor Nudge. No matter how many Erasers and evil scientists she may have fought, she was still just a twelve year old girl.

"We have a tutor at the institute." Jace smiled, "And yes, life's relatively normal- I mean, once you ignore the wings" He winked.

"I think it's a good idea." Said Ian,

"Yeah, I agree." Said Iggy, followed by a chorus of agreement from the others.

"I don't know…" Fang said, hesitantly. He was the only one besides Alex and I who were still undecided.

"We'll be safe Fang. Trust me." Jace said confidently.

After lots of deliberation, I finally agreed to go, as did Alex.

"So its go or get left behind?" Fang said, his tone was casual but his eyes were narrowing.

"Pretty much." Dylan said.

"Watch it." Alex hit his arm.

"Then I guess I'm down. I have no choice, do I?" Fang looked at me.

I averted my gaze back to Jace, avoiding Fang's eyes. "Well, we'll get some rest tonight and we'll be ready to go in the morning. 6:00 AM guys. Meet in the hall outside the rooms. Be late and I might just have to kill you before we get there." I winked.

"Jace can bunk with us." Alex said quickly. "We know you want 'the originals' in the other room." Alex put an arm on his shoulder. Jace looked around the room, taking in the vibe. Which, albeit wasn't all that comfortable. It seemed like whatever 'bond' Alex and I built on our little trip to the forest was dissolved already.

Pretending I didn't care, I wheeled around to face the door, "Yeah no problem. Let's go guys," I snapped and before I could hear anything I was out the door.

One by one my flock all joined me. Despite everything that had happened, before going to sleep we stacked our fists on top of each others' and tapped them. Whatever drama that was going on, we were still a family.

Iggy, Fang and Gazzy played rock paper scissors to decide who got the bed- they weren't big on sharing. Angel made sure they weren't cheating with Iggy- who ended up winning. The Gasman found a bunch of blankets in the closet and assembled a little nest for himself. Cute, I thought to myself. Fang walked over to the window. I waited until everyone else was asleep and then I went to stand next to him.

"What's wrong?" I brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"Nothing," He said coldly, "And don't touch me." He pushed my hand away.

"What? Are we ten years old again? You're going to fight me?" I hit his shoulder. I had to look up to meet his eyes.

"I don't know, you tell me. There's a new shiny toy in town and you can't seem to take your eyes off it- sounds pretty juvenile to me." He stepped back.

"Keep it down. The kids are asleep." I shushed him. "And no, you're the one acting like the ten year old."

"Creative, Max. Really intellectual. You sure Jace doesn't have cooties? Oh no!" His face masked in to fake horror. "You think none of us saw how you were looking at him? You and Alex are _exactly _the same. You want what you can't have and right now that's Jace. And DON'T tell me I'm jealous. I know you too well; this isn't about being safe and having a place to stay- this is about you wanting Jace."

"What's wrong with that? He's a person- and I never said I liked him- and you are jealous. Don't tell me otherwise Fang because I know _you _just as well. This is about whatever the hell is going on between me and you!"

"You never said you didn't like him either." He said, quieter now.

"Do you always have to be such an a- "

He cut me off,

"No. I just," He breathed, "I'm going out. Don't worry, I'll be back soon." He opened up the window and set one foot up on to the sill.

"Oh, I won't worry. Stay out as long as you like." My tone was dripping with acid as I turned away from him. I heard him let out a deep breath, hesitating, and then I heard the outstretch of his wings as they unfurled and I knew he had jumped.

So what if I did like Jace? Fang and I had our closure back at the house. What was it to him? Okay, maybe that was a stupid question, but still. I never said I liked Jace and I never made my feelings- whatever they were- obvious. That made you vulnerable and that would just be stupid. A vulnerable Max is a Max that's no use. And, what the heck was going on with me? I wasn't boy obsessed so why did all this drama start affecting me so greatly? It was getting really annoying. And so was Fang with his over protective attitude. And Dylan too with his cockiness- who told him he was allowed to make snide comments? I certainly didn't- and yes that's right- he needed permission- and of course Alex- the never ending pain in my side. My clone. Even Fang saw that. The rest of her flock kept to themselves, why couldn't she? Oh right, she was just like me.

I was about to give up on my internal debate when there was a knock on the door.

"Who's there?" I looked through the peep hole. A tall, tanned, blonde figure was standing out there, waiting for me. _Jace._

"What do you want?" I opened the door and stuck my head out.

"I couldn't sleep and I heard you and Fang arguing. Do you want to talk?" He asked, his big brown eyes widening.

"Um, sure" I smiled at him. I knew it was wrong to go, but he was very compelling. Fang was right, I did like him.

"There shouldn't be anyone in the lobby except for the night guy at the front desk." He motioned for me to follow him down the stairs. The hotel- or motel- wasn't exactly a nice place to be in. The stairs creaked and there were stains covering the walls that looked like they may have once been white. Mould was growing along the lines where the floor and the walls met and there seemed to be a hole in the ceiling where something was dripping. Romantic eh? Jace pulled me down to sit on the old black velvety couch in the centre of what some might call a lobby.

"I don't want to start anything here. I'm just trying to help you." He said honestly, "I don't want to tear you guys up because you've only known me a few hours- and you guys need each other. Don't let me get in the way of anything." He said right away.

"Don't worry, you're not. This is just something that happens with Fang and me. I trust you and that's good enough for the rest of the flock." I smiled at him, "I don't hand out my trust all that lightly you know."

"And I won't break it." His eyes focused their gaze on to mine. I swore he was inching closer every second.

"Tell me more about the institute." I said nervously. He was very close now.

"You'll see when we get there." His tone was amused; he could see me blushing. "I just have a question for you."

"Shoot." I said, trying to act casual.

"Is Fang right?"

"About what?" Fang? Oh right. Fang was the furthest thing from my mind.

"Everything he said before he left."

"I don't know," I said, playing with my hands, "He could be. I'm just sort of confused right now. I don't really know what's going on."

"If I'm getting in the way-" He motioned to get up.

"No, no!" I grabbed his hand, "It's alright, sit. I want to talk." He sat back down but I didn't let go of his hand.

This was all happening so fast. I'd known Jace for maybe 2 hours and I was already holding hands with him? Like I said before, the guy was compelling.

We talked for at least twenty minutes more about… everything really. 'Getting to know each other', as Jace had put it. We talked about our lives so far and our families and I told him about the all of the things the flock and I had done to protect people.

"That's really amazing, Max." He said, astounded. "You and your flock turned out so well despite everything that's been thrown at you. It's… just mind blowing. You're only fifteen too. I'm seventeen and I couldn't even dream of doing those things. You're amazing." He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. Suddenly, everything that had been bothering me went away. All complications went away and all I could think about was Jace and I.

There was no doubt he saw the bright shade of red that I flushed. "Thank you." I said, brushing my hand over my cheek, "It's getting late, we should probably get back."

He agreed and we walked up the stairs, hand in hand still. When we arrived back at the rooms he spoke again,

"What does this mean?" He said, lifting up our hands.

"It means… We're… getting to know each other. Building a bond." I smiled- I was doing that a lot with Jace. I opened the door, unaware of my surroundings.

"Good night, Max." He leaned forward again, and said softly in my ear. I sighed.

"Night Jace" I closed the door and turned around before he could see me blushing again.

I did a quick scene survey, the kids were all asleep. Fang wasn't. He was standing across from me, holding a pillow and some blankets. I wouldn't let myself feel embarrassed. Fang and I were done. And Jace and I hadn't done anything wrong really. Fang and I stood there staring at each other for a prolonged moment until finally I dropped my eyes to the floor.

"Good. Night." He said, annunciating each word sharply.

I sighed, "Back 'atcha." I wasn't in the mood for arguing. I slid into the bed beside Nudge and tried to sleep, but sleep was evading me. I heard Fang's ragged breathing; he wasn't having any luck either.

"I hate this." I whispered.

"What?" He asked sharply, his tone still acidic.

"Fighting with you. It's just as bad as being…er…distracted… with you. We can't work like this."

"Whatever. If you want to talk go find Jace again. I'm done."

"Do you have to be such a pain?" I asked him, a little bit louder now.

"You're just a delight to have around too." He said sarcastically. "Go to bed. I'm done talking."

"Well, I'm not!" I said at full volume now.

No answer.

"Fang." I whispered, "Please answer me."

"Jace would love to talk. I'm tired, Max. Just… leave me alone."

And I did. I let him sleep. What had I done? I made Fang hate me and now I started something with Jace that I wasn't even sure I wanted to start- and it'd only been a few hours since I met him. And there was no doubt the flock had woken up a few times with all the shouting. That would be embarrassing when we woke up. I threw my hands up and let them fall back down on to the bed. My face still felt hot from Jace's touch. Or maybe from my fight with Fang. I didn't know.

I sighed and rolled over to face away from Angel and Nudge before I finally let myself drift into a long, dark, dreamless sleep.


	15. Chapter 14: Possibilities

Chapter 14- Possibilities

_Fang was running from me, sprinting as though I were an... eraser. I chased him through the streets and finally we took to the sky. I closed in on him, only wanting to talk but his face, full of hatred, looked at me and he yelled for back up. I expected him to call me, or Iggy, but instead the name that left his lips, was "Alex". I recoiled as though I was punched in the stomach. Alex appeared, dressed exactly like me. We landed as I watched from a distance, having fled from Fang. "Fang!" Alex flung herself into his arms, and, as though he knew I was watching and, looking up, meeting my eyes directly, with a hard edge to them, as if it was my fault, as he pulled Alex into his arms. I whimpered and turned to see Jace standing behind me. "It's okay Max, you'll be okay, as long as you're with me." His lips curled into a smile and I let myself step towards him. His brown eyes shone and as I looked away from his eyes for a moment, I saw Dylan shaking his head. This, plus Fang's eyes on my back, I leaned forward and pressed my lips onto Jace's. I looked over his shoulder and saw Fang pull Alex's face roughly to his. "Fang, no!" I yelled._

I woke to hear myself screaming over and over again, "Fang, no!"

"Max, wake up!" Fang was standing next to me. "What is going on?" He pressed his hands onto mine, pinning me to the bed. Nudge was staring wide-eyed.

"Don't touch me!" I flung his hand off my arm. He staggered back into the wall, crashing and making a loud noise.

"What the hell?" Fang exclaimed.

"You, and Alex, how could you?" I knew it was a dream, but it had felt so real and just really wanted to hit something. I know, stop spazzing Max, but do you have any idea how it feels to watch the love of your life kiss some clone of you? No, I didn't think so.

"We didn't do anything!" Fang yelled back. "You are so paranoid and self centered! You act as though the only person I left and hurt was you! Do you think I don't notice the looks the rest of the flock gives me? Also, don't even start with me about Alex! You have no right, with the way you swoon when you see Jace! Do you think I don't know how you feel? Having someone there, so ready for you and knowing that you will never love me the same again? I hate it Max! I hate it! I wish I never came back!" He looked startled at his own words and I flinched as though I had been slapped.

"Don't you EVER say that. You tell me I will never love you the same again? You're right, I won't love you the same, because I still do. But, you call me selfish Fang? That's because you have never seen me scared. I am scared of you. Of what you can do. To me, to Iggy, to the flock. If you leave again, I just want you to know, that even though I love you now, I will never love you again. I will fall in love with someone else, get married, and never spare you a thought again." It was a good thing I was a terrific liar. I know what you're thinking, "No, Max you're a terrible liar". You can shut up right about now.

"I will love you forever Max. Don't doubt it." He turned to go to the window but Iggy stepped into the way, faster than I thought possible.

"You will not be going anywhere."

"Iggy move."

"No. You hurt my best friend, and you hurt me. You hurt the flock." I felt a smile growing on my lips as Iggy said those words.

"Please, Ig, just move."

"NO!" Iggy surprised everyone by yelling. "You're out of your frigging mind if you think you are going to leave us again. It's all about Max when it comes to your thoughts, but you need to take the rest of us into account. We hated you just as much for leaving, not because we were in love with you, but because we hated what you did to max and because you are our BROTHER. Family doesn't leave each other when they break up with their freaking girlfriend." Fang opened his mouth to correct him but he continued. "Max may be your 'first love' and the 'only one for you' but I have heard enough of that stuff. You were my best friend Fang, but I honestly think I hate you."

He stopped speaking and Fang's eyes widened. He staggered backwards a few steps and sunk onto the bed.

"Ig-"

"Stop. Calling. Me. That. Max, let's go." He walked forwards and I grabbed his arm and guided him out the door. Jace was standing outside, grinning slightly, but the grin slipped off his face as soon as he saw our expressions.

"What happened?" His entire stance became concerned.

"Just another Fang argument." I said. He rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Well, I was going to talk to Max but I'll leave you two lovebirds." Iggy said and started to walk down the hall.

"Ig, wait!" I called, sprinting down the hall after him.

"What about Jace?"

"I don't need another distraction. Jace and I are justing…bonding." I grinned silently. Jace smirked.

"Bonding, sure, call it what you want." He smiled.

"Jace, do you want to, um, plan the flight or something?" I tried delegating. He nodded and walked away.

"So, Ig, what did you want to talk about?" I looked at him as we climbed out another window.

"I just wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot." We sat on a hill.

"You and Fang fight all the time and it's getting old. Jace and you are getting close and I can see what it's doing to Fang. Our life is all about you and Fang getting together or working out your issues, but you are supposed to save the world. There are erasers out there hunting you down. They want to kill you Max, and you don't seem to care. What are you doing? You're messing around when you need to be doing something." I lowered my eyes. Iggy had a point.

"I-" I paused, thinking. "It's a good question and I don't really know the answer. I think I'm trying to deal with Fang's return and Jace's appearance and Alex's presence and it's way too much for me to handle. Everything is a possibility and I need help, Ig, but I don't know who to ask. We're going to this institute place because it will give me a place to think. We can train to fight these Erasers and I can work out whatevers going on with me." I took a breath and looked into his sightless eyes. "I need you to help me. You know me and you have good judgement and…" Iggy nodded and I stopped and was silent for a moment before continuing in a rush.

"Jace's parents are scientists. He said they're very good too. Talented. They helped Jace through his transformation and the other mutants. I think… I think they can give you your sight back."

Iggy balked at this. I hadn't told anyone, but I was hoping. Jace had told me last night about how amazing his parents were when it came to science.

"What?"

"I don't know. I haven't said anything to anyone. I don't even know if it's possible. But, if Dr.H can do it, I think they might be able to also."

"Please don't get my hopes up." He asked quietly.

"It was just a possibility."

"I'll help you Max, and I'll do the fight training, and I definitely want to know more about this sight thing, but we really should get back." The corner of his mouth quirked up. We headed back to the hotel. I brought everyone into our room. We jumped out the windows.

"Let's go guys! Jace, lead the way."


	16. Chapter 15: Over

**A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for reading! Again, please keep reviewing! I really appreciate it!**

* * *

Chapter 15- Over 

Account: .Ride

You are visitor number: Too many visitors to count- choose whatever you want

So I guess I haven't exactly been the best blogger, but I promise, what I'm about to say will totally make up for it- I promise guys

Where to begin... Hm... Oh right- as you probably already know Fang's back- and he's made some new friends. Turns out, Dr. H created a flock just like mine- they were supposed to replace us or help us or something like that. Well, point is, they're here to help us do what we do best- save the world. It's kind of like walking in front of a mirror _all the time. _There's Alex, Ian, Natalie, The Claw and Angela. Creepy right? Scientists these days...

So anyway, we've made some new friends- including this guy named Jace. We just met him and well- he's pretty awesome. And by that I mean, he's got wings too! Honestly, if there are any more of you out there with wings- please come forward, because this is getting ridiculous! But anyway, I can't really talk about it, but Jace said he can help us- there's this place where we can stay for a while- you know- plan stuff and its top secret and no Erasers can find us there. There's two other bird kids like us there who we haven't met yet. I know, it's all pretty exciting, we've got a new flock, a new friend, a new house and of course- I've got an old pain...

But that's all for now, _someone _really wants to use the computer so I'll talk to you all later.

Yours Featherly,

Max

Fax4ever says: 

Fax should get back together NOW!

.Ride. Says: 

Fax? Um, sorry kid, but that's probably not going to happen anytime soon.

MaxRocks says:

Go Max! It looks like you've got a good plan set up- I hope everything works out!

.Ride. Says: 

I'm a REALLY good actor- but truth be told, I'm doing a lot of thinking and I'll definitely keep you guys posted.

Fang'sGirl says:

You don't deserve Fang anyway

.Ride. Says: 

You've got that backwards.

BlueHour says:

Jace sounds cool, can you tell us more?

.Ride. Says: 

Um later, I really need to go. But Jace is cool.

* * *

"Done yet?" Fang asked again, impatiently.

"Here you go." I stood up and handed him the laptop, acid dripping in my tone.

He yanked the computer out of my hands and silently went to go sit against the wall opposite to me. He started typing fast and loudly- and not to mention annoyingly.

We'd made it half way to the institute when we decided to stop to break. We found an empty house to hang out in for the day. This place was ah-ma-zing. Like- whoever lived here is amazingly lucky. The main entrance had a large glass door that was about the height of the wall and the second you stepped in you got a view of the giant spiralling staircase that led to all four floors. The main level had light coloured hardwood floors and all of the rooms had the dividing walls knocked out so that they were all open and connected. To the left there was a large living room complete with grand piano, classical guitar and wood burning fireplace. Connected to that room was a den that looked like it belonged in a corporate building. The desk was large and chestnut coloured and on it was a state of the art brand new desktop computer. Across from the desk a flat screen television was attached to the wall, on top of yet another fireplace. To the right was another living room, this one designed more casually. There was a large sectional couch that divided the room from the kitchen. It created a comfy space where the flock was now watching television on a flat screen. The television was in the centre of the wall placed on top of the mantle of a gas fireplace. There was a grandfather clock to the left and to the right was a large cabinet with a shelf full of pictures. The kitchen was state of the art- Stainless steel, large rectangular breakfast table, all the works. It connected to the dining room which had a table that looked like it could seat 12. The kitchen had two huge glass doors that let the light shine through into the rest of the house. The backyard held a cabana, a deck, and a gazebo- all surrounding a giant pool. I didn't even have time to explore the rest of the house. I was too busy marvelling at this floor alone. This was ultimately my dream house- Big, classy, comfortable- even a pool! Best of all- every room had a ceiling high enough that we could fly and not break anything. What else could a girl ask for?

It looked like the owners were on vacation, no food in the fridge, no cars in the drive way. Wireless internet was abundant however. Nudge hacked the password. I knew I kept her around for a reason.

"Hey, Jace?" I came up beside him and touched his arm. "So what's the plan? Are we staying here for the night or are we going to keep moving?"

"We should probably keep going. We don't know when these people will be back. Besides, we should get there around eleven tonight."

"Yeah, you're totally right!" I smiled. Okay, so maybe he wasn't a genius, and maybe I was acting like an idiot- but I couldn't help it.

Alex laughed, "Yeah Jace, you're so right." Imitation is the best form of flattery... I suppose.

"Alex, can I talk to you for a second?" Dylan pulled her away. Thank God.

Or maybe not- talking to Jace was harder when other people were around. When we were alone I felt like I could say anything, but here, in front of my family, anything I'd say would be judged on the spot. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?

Jace smirked at me. Oh right, mood detection. "Feeling awkward?" He asked, a small smile playing on the corner of his mouth.

"What? No! Of course not" I flushed bright red. This was so embarrassing.

"I make you nervous, don't I?" Jace asked, only half joking.

"No. I'm always like this." I lied.

"Just admit it Max, you like me, I can tell. Waiting for you to say something is killing me." He smirked again.

"Is this really the time and place?" Change the subject Max, keep cool. Damn, he was hot.

"You can't plan fate." He winked. Sarcasm, real nice Jace.

I blushed again.

"Oh calm down I'm just kidding." He smiled. We were standing so close that he wrapped one arm around my waist. "But for the record," he paused, "I like you too." Abruptly his grip loosened and the next thing I knew, Fang was standing on my other side.

"Well congrats to the happy couple." He said with mock enthusiasm. "Jace, old buddy- or, er- new buddy. There's a lot you should know before you get into this.

"Fang," I interjected, but he kept going.

"Stubborn isn't she?" He started, "She loves to get her way. Oh and never mirror her actions back at her- she's a hypocrite. Also, don't 'out-man' her. Max equal Alpha. Oh and her hygiene-"

"Fang!" I said again,

"Fine, fine. I'm just kidding, Max is a great girl. You're lucky to have her."

"Fang, can we talk? Please?" I said softly.

"No can do," And with that he wheeled around and walked away.

"I'm sorry" I apologized to Jace.

"Don't worry about it. I know he's kidding. He's just sulking. He'll be okay." He smiled at me.

"He better be. Or else I'll kick his-" Jace cut me off with his laugh. And what a great laugh it was... I let my thoughts trail off...

"Max. I need to talk to you for a second." Iggy tapped on my shoulder.

"Sure Ig," I smiled at Jace and then I pulled Iggy along with me to the kitchen.

"Shoot." I said once we were seated at the table.

"Give Fang a break. I know he was an ass back there but he's just hurt. Cut him some slack."

"Why the hell should I? He was totally rude back there!"

"I may not be the guy's biggest fan right now, but I know where he's coming from."

"Oh really?" I asked sceptically. How could Iggy ever have comprehended this situation?

"I know what it's like to see the girl you care about most in the entire world fall in love with another guy." He said quieter.

"Iggy," I began.

"Wait. Let me finish." He held his hand up. "We were 11 years old and Jeb was helping us train. I was the one having trouble and out of the whole flock you were the only one who didn't laugh. You actually helped me- and over that time- I started to like you, and I always thought that maybe when we were older I could actually do something about it- but then I started to notice how you were with Fang. It was totally different than how you were with the rest of us. I just gave up and got over it. I knew that it was always going to be Fang and you- we all did. We grew up our whole lives thinking 'Max and Fang: super couple' and now things are different. Even Fang and you thought it would always be you two together- and now you're getting over him- but he's not over you- and he doesn't _want _to get over you. He's trying to ignore the reality that this 'super-couple' doesn't really exist anymore. Now he has no choice but to watch as the girl he loves falls for another guy. You're a different person with Jace than with Fang. It's going to take some getting used to- so just give him some time."

What he had just said was still processing in my head.

"You liked me?" I asked incredulously. I'd always thought of Iggy as my brother. I never stopped to consider anything like this. "I wish I'd known."

"It wouldn't have made a difference," he smiled, "but that's beside the point. I _liked _you, emphasis on the past tense. I told Fang when we were kids- and he laughed. When he went off back there- I knew that at any moment he could let this slip- but if he did, I'd never have a chance to tell you the whole story."

"Which is that your best friend got in the way and you always knew he would?"

"No. Well sort of. It's that for as long as anyone can remember, it's been you and Fang. The idea of you guys being apart is going to take some getting used to- especially for Fang. No matter what, he always thought it would come back to just the two of you. Now it's over and he's just lost everything he thought he knew."

I hated it when other people made sense...

"Who said it was over?" This was FANG for crying out loud- nothing is ever OVER.

"Well you and Jace sort of..." He trailed off.

"Well Fang and Bridget sort of, and Fang and that red-haired wonder sort of too... It wasn't over then so why now?"

"Do you want it to be over?"

I had no answer. Was I giving up on Fang? Did I want to give up on Fang? Did I want anyone but Fang? I had no clue.

"I don't know." I said finally.

"Well no matter what you decide- you and I both know very well it's never fully going to be finished. There's always going to be that history. And truth be told, Fang doesn't know how to _not _love you."

"Maybe I don't like that history. Maybe I want a new future, so I can make a new history." I said childishly.

"That's up to you. But remember- you only said maybe."

"I'm sorry," I said suddenly. Iggy raised an eyebrow, "For never listening to _your _problems. You're always there for me. I'm going to start being there for you now."

"No worries. Truth be told I don't really have problems. Hakuna Matata." He grinned.

"What a wonderful phrase." I smiled back, but it was lost on Iggy.

"No. I'm not doing this with you." He laughed, "Now get back in there and decide what you want to do." He said, full of authority.

"Um..."

"Take your time of course." He clarified.

Iggy and I walked together back to the living room where everyone but Fang and Alex were. The kids were all laughing. Jace was talking to Ian. Dylan sat by himself, looking deflated. No time for that though- this was my chance to read Fang's block. With a quick smile at everyone I grabbed the laptop and went to sit by myself in the dining room. I read out-loud.

Fang's Blog

You are visitor number: Oh who the hell cares?

So this should be a pretty short update. Big mouth over there probably already told you everything. Speaking of Max- she sucks at flirting. You should see her right now. Beware girls, she's no role model. I guess you could say I'm being a jerk and that's probably true, but people change- and by people I mean Max. You know how someone acts one way with someone and different with another? Well, I believe that's called two-faced. It's just nice to know that Max will always be there for me- oh wait... Never mind. So anyway- I suck at making short posts- because you know I love to talk. I think maybe I'm telling you too much- but I'm not hiding anything- oh I see the t-shirts now... "Team Fang" "Team Max" "Team Jace" "Team Iggy" Just promise you guys send me a Team Gasman shirt. I root for the underdogs. Anyway, peace

Fly on,

Fang

TeamNudge says:

Huge jerk. What about Nudge?

Fang says:

Huge? I didn't think I was fat. Nudge is too young for me, sorry.

FangSucks says:

Team Anyone But You. You don't deserve her.

* * *

That's when I became aware that Iggy was standing behind me, listening.

"Give him a chance? You told me to give him a chance! How can I?" I said, flushed with anger.

"He's just hurt. Please don't do anything crazy."

"He's hurt? No he's just a giant jerk! I need to talk to him _now!" _

"Max wait!" But it was too late; I was already making my way upstairs to look for Fang.

There were five rooms at the top of the stairs but only one had a closed door- I marched over to it but paused, my hand on the doorknob. Suddenly two things became apparent. Alex wasn't downstairs- and the giggling sure as hell wasn't coming from Fang. With a sudden rush of anger, I threw open the door.

Fang had Alex in his arms, their heads were touching. Both of them jumped back from each other immediately.

"Get out." He said coldly.

"No. We need to talk." I said firmly, masking my horror about what I just walked in on.

"He's made it clear he's done talking to you, Max." Alex stepped towards me.

"Oh really?" I began sarcastically, "Now let me guess. You're under the impression that he really likes you and he's over me. You think that despite all obvious facts that show how much you're exactly like me; he sees something original about you. Something better than me. A few days ago I reminded you why you exist- need I repeat myself?" I stepped closer to her. If she wanted a fight she'd get it.

"Back off." Fang stepped in between us. "This is between me and you."

"Exactly," I began, "So how about you stop using her as your backup and talk to me for a second. You remember me right? Best friend?" I asked bitterly.

"Alex, give us a moment." Fang's eyes met my gaze and refused to let go. With an acidic look, Alex left, slamming the door.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" I screamed.

"What? So you can get a new boyfriend but it's against the law for me to have a new girlfriend?"

"Jace isn't my boyfriend. I haven't even kissed him. It's the fact that you're using her as an alternative to me!"

"Maybe I really like her. Ever consider that?" He challenged,

I laughed hysterically, "Of course you do! She's just like me!" I ran my fingers over my hair, exasperated.

"Don't be so self absorbed."

"I'm not. It's just that I-" He cut me off.

"I, I, I, me, me, me" He mimicked. "You're so selfish."

"Oh really. Well maybe you should tell that to Alex. It'll help her portray me more accurately. You want that don't you? Admit it. You can't get over me. You still love me and its killing you."

Okay, maybe that was a low blow...

"I'm sorry. I didn't know we had an expiration date for our relationship. Was it easy to get over me, oh dearest lifelong love?"

"I'm sorry. I'm not over it. I do love you but-"

"You're a hypocrite." He said smugly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It's okay for you to be with Jace for whatever reasons you have, but the same doesn't go for me?"

"Ugh..." I groaned. He was right. Stupid Fang.

"Thought so." He paused, "It's like I don't even know who you are anymore." He said, softer now. "The girl I've loved my whole life is standing right here in front of me and it's like we're separated by a million miles instead of a few feet."

"I think we've established that time and distance doesn't fare well for us." I said sadly.

"Right now, being together isn't working out either." He said softly.

I stepped backwards and slid down to lean against the wall, "How did our lives become such a mess?"

He sat down next to me and put one arm over my shoulder. It was comfortable. It felt so right. The way my head fit perfectly on his shoulder, the way he knew exactly what I was thinking.

_You're perfect for each other. _

My voice was back. This was hardly the time and place.

"You know I love you." He said, so quiet it was almost a whisper.

"I wish it was enough. I wish I could erase the past." I turned my head towards him.

"Now what do we do?" He stroked my hair.

"We stop fighting and we learn how to be _friends." _I emphasised the last word, "And we'll see how things turn out."

He let out a deep breath and turned his head towards me. I stared up in to his eyes. He looked so confused, so hurt. He didn't know what he wanted anymore than I did.

I knew that we needed to move. We should have gone back downstairs. We should have been in the living room with everyone else, like a family. But right now all I wanted was to sit here with Fang and block out the rest of the world.

But no- I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let him in this easily. I had Jace and Dylan to worry about. This couldn't happen- but here we were- and I couldn't find the will to place distance between us.

Fang's hand moved to my chin and he tilted my head towards him. He was about to kiss me- and I was about to let him- until the door burst open.

"Max! Fang! They're coming! Hurry, we have to get out of here!" Angel shouted.

"Angel what are you talking about?" Fang asked his hand dropping from my face.

"Erasers. I saw it- they're on their way- and they're stronger than ever. We've got about three minutes."


	17. Chapter 16: The insititute, sort of

Chapter 16- The insitute, sort of

"Alright. Let's move." I sprang up. Yes I do remember what romantic moment just happened. No I am not ignoring it. I am dealing. This is how I deal. I marched down the hall barking commands. Maximum Ride was back in the saddle, and better than ever.

"Everybody up! Let's go! This house it way to nice to be splattered with Eraser blood, on the inside at least. Yes, there are Erasers coming. Come on people, this is no time for confusion. This is the first time we will fight together, and I do not intend to lose. I _never _lose. Am I understood?" Heads bobbed as everyone gathered around me.

"Max is BACK!" Iggy and Fang slapped hands, then realized what had just happened and looked away awkwardly.

"Yes, I am." I grinned at them both. "Now, we've got less than a minute until the Erasers arrive. When we go out that door, there will be two fights, or at least there better be, if you catch my drift." I glared at the bird kids around me. "Jace, lead the clones. I'll lead the flock. Split the Erasers up. I've had enough of these idiots. Let's show them why everyone is scared of us. Move out!" This army commander thing really worked for me. Possible career? Ugh, so not a good time to get side tracked. We walked out the door and leapt into the air as the battle began.

Fang brushed by me as we leaped into the air. "That is my girl." I smiled and spun around punching an Eraser in the face.

"You got that right." There was a scream as three Erasers attacked Alex who was watching Fang and me.

"For God's sake." I mutted as I dove towards her. I clapped my hands over one Eraser's ears, and another wings together, and watched as they dropped like stones. I pulled the last Eraser off Alex and kicked him in the stomach, pushing him through the air towards Fang, who finished the fight quickly.

"Thanks!" He yelled in acknowledgement.

"No problem." I saluted him. His face split into a rare grin. You don't see that everyday. Fang smiling, and me saluting anyone other than myself in a mirror.

"Never get distracted like that again." I hissed at Alex. She recoiled. "Go help Ian." I waved her away and moved back over to Fang.

"All better?" He smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"Duck!" I instructed then hit an Eraser where Fang's head had been moments ago. "I feel much better. I think I managed to completely terrify her. Taking down three Erasers probably contributed." I managed to convey between fighting bursts.

"Max?" Fang looked at me in disbelief. "You can terrify anyone with only a look. I think you may have scared Alex half to death."

"One more time to go then!" I shot back. It was his turn to roll his eyes.

"Look, I'm all for you two rebonding, but I could use a little help!" Iggy called, fending off five Erasers.

"Oh my god!" Fang and I shot over to help. The fight was over in minutes. The two flocks rejoined.

"Good job. That wasn't too bad was it? Some of us could use some work on 'battle' skills. I'm not saying I'm perfect," Alex snorted. "I'm still a little rusty," I continued. "But some of us," I glared at Alex, "Could do with some focus. We can work on these kinds of things at the institute right?" I looked to Jace.

"Yeah. It's got state of the art facilities for just about everything. Speaking of the insititute, we should probably head over there." We all nodded and we climbed higher, out of sight into the sky. Night fell as we flew. Fang and Iggy both flew near me. We finally stopped on an empty dirt road.

"Is that it?" I gestured to the rundown shack in front of us. The window was caked with dirt so thick I doubted it would ever come off. The shack itself was made of a crumbling sort of brick, making it lean slightly. Kinda like the leaning tower of piza, only the leaning shack of pathetic.

"Yup." Jace led us forward and rapped a pattern on the door. A keypad slid out. He punched in a code, and the door swung open to reveal a metal room, with an elevator at the end. All of our jaws dropped simultaneously.

"Alright, the elevator can only hold five at a time." Jace supplied.

"Okay. Jace, Fang and I will go last. Ian, Dyl-" Alex started rattling off.

"Shut up." Nudge shot at her. "Max? What do you think?"

"I figure Jace should probably go first. Dylan, Ian, Natalie and Nudge can go with him. Alex, you can go with the quadruplets, and I'll go last with Fang and Iggy. Does that sound okay to everyone?" Alex rolled her eyes. Everyone that mattered… sorry I mean everyone else, nodded.

"Cool. Jace, what should we expect when we get down there?" He shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I haven't been back in a while." We started to file into the elevator. Soon Fang, Iggy and I were the only ones left. The elevator shot up quickly. I stood in front of the door.

"Now, before we get in the elevator, I would like to say something. I know my thoughts may have been a little jumbled recently. Alright fine, I've completely lost my marbles, but we all knew this day was coming. I just didn't think it would be over guys. You two are my best friends in the entire world. I don't know what I'd do without you. This is why, while we're here, I'm asking you guys to behave. That way, I can sort myself out, and you two can try and make up. You guys used to be like brothers! I love you both, so can we all try to get along? Like before everything happened?"

"Define everything." Fang asked, raising his eye brows. I saw a hint of a smile playing on his mouth. The corner of Iggy's mouth jerked up a little.

"I reserve the right to refuse to answer that." I smiled. "So, what do you say?" Iggy answered first,

"I don't guarantee it will be anything like before. That kind of history is too much to forget. I lost the girl I kinda loved, then my brother when he left, then my leader when she resorted to screaming about Fang all the time. I just got you all back. I kind of like the new, army general Max, and I certainly love having her as a best friend. I do miss Fang, I mean Max certainly isn't going to describe the girls to me without calling me a sexist pig. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want things to stay the way they are, without all the fighting." Fang and I smiled at him.

"I can't promise anything even remotely close to before. I fell in love with you Max, and that isn't going to change. I tried to fall for Alex, but I don't want her. For God's sake, I don't even want to want her. I want Max, and I want you back Iggy. You're my brother, and brothers fight, but they also make up." Fang put his hand on Iggy and my shoulders. I tried not to lean into him, but I did anyways. He wrapped his arm around my waist, and Iggy put his arm around my shoulders.

"This is great and all, but it's kind of awkward." Iggy and Fang agreed. "We should probably get downstairs before people think we ran away." We all laughed and stepped into the elevator.

"By the way, what are you going to do about Jace, Max?" Iggy asked.

"Ah yes, do tell. I'd like to hear this." Fang looked at me with interest. The elevator doors opened to reveal a girl with her arms wrapped around Jace's neck as she glued her face to his. I started coughing. Iggy pounded me on the back.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem." I managed to choke out.


	18. Chapter 17: Sparks

Chapter 17- Sparks 

In that moment, I felt like there could be no worse feeling. Fang could have had the words 'I told you so' marked across his forehead and I'd still refuse to look at him. Why? He actually had the nerve to burst out laughing- and I couldn't blame him. He was right this whole time. I barely knew Jace and here he was with some girl's lips planted to his cheek.

Fang's boisterous laugh managed to break the girl away from Jace. She blushed and smiled apologetically.

"Um, can I ask what's going on?" Iggy was the first to break the silence. I let out a sigh of relief that I didn't have to be the one to ask that question. I probably wouldn't have been able to speak properly anyway. My face was red hot and completely flushed. I couldn't tell if I was angrier than I was embarrassed. All I could really agree with myself on was that I, Maximum Ride, was an idiot.

"Yes, do tell, Jace." Fang managed to choke out between giggles. Yes that's right- Fang giggled. It took all I had not to slap him upside the head. My hands clenched in to fists. Right about now, anger was winning.

"This," He held his hands out, motioning to the girl, "is Elena."

The girl waved politely. It was as if the last few minutes had never happened. "And I'm guessing you're Max, Iggy and Fang- or maybe Alex, Ian and Fang- but I'm going to go with my first guess." She rambled, pushing back her hair. Elena was- for lack of a better word- freaking gorgeous. She had long black hair down to her waist which framed her pale heart shaped face. Her eyes were round and a colour similar to silver. The rest of her features all fit together and they complimented her perfectly. The girl was about 5 foot 9 and she had a petite frame- The body of a super-model. Just looking at her knocked down my self esteem.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled falsely, "Funny, Jace never mentioned her had a girlfriend?"

Elena burst out laughing just as Fang had, "That's because he doesn't. I consider Jace to be my brother- And I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression." She blushed again.

"Yes well..." Jace looked away awkwardly, "Let's get back to the others."

As Elena turned around I caught sight of her wings. So she was one of the other two bird kids. Like Jace's they were angel's wings. They probably had a 15 foot span and the feathers were plush and as white as could be.

We all filed in to the elevator, tucking our wings in tightly to make room for one another. The door flew open and I found the rest of my flock sitting around a fireplace, anxiously waiting for whatever was going to happen next. I had the feeling I may had given them the impression that the second we got here, I was going to take some sort of much needed action on this Dr. G-H thing. Like I said before, I was an amazing actor. Images of Dr. G-H's failed experiments flashed through my brain, followed by the image of him hacking off his pinkie finger with a meat cleaver, and the finally the pustules that appeared all over his skin. What can I say? Dr. God was the life of the party.

As we all stepped out a boy with dark brown hair and features similar to Elena's stepped towards us.

"Jace! Good to see you again," He hugged Jace with one arm.

"You must be Max, Iggy and Fang. I'm Elena's brother, Declan." He held out his hand to each of us.

Finally after we were all acquainted, we joined the others where they sat. What I really wanted to do was survey the institute but it didn't look like I'd be escaping the group that easily with Fang and Iggy flanking me on both sides. Elena, Declan and Jace all explained to us the basics of how things worked around here. Basically the institute was like a sanctuary for kids like us. Jace's parents were the ones who ran the whole operation. They kept track of all re-combinant DNA experiments and at any sign of trouble, they'd move in to help them. Right now Jace's parents were away on a mission- I didn't quite catch what it was- I was a little busy fuming at how Elena's hands always seemed to be on Jace- the way she giggled at all his jokes. And I couldn't help fuming at how lovely of a couple they could make. Their appearances, although polar opposites, suited each other as if they were _made _to look perfect together.

"Do you mind if I take a tour?" I asked, standing up.

"Sure, I'll take you." Jace offered, and before I could protest, he grabbed my hand and started leading me out the door. As soon as we were out of sight he let go of my hand.

In silence he led me around the whole first floor, showing me the kitchen, infirmary, library, the living room, the sleeping quarters. When we reached the second floor he started to walk ahead of me, leading me into a quiet hallway with quite literally nothing in it.

"Why won't you talk to me?" He asked. He sounded upset, angry even.

"No reason. I just didn't know you and your 'sister' had such a close relationship." I said, dropping his gaze.

"Elena and I are perfect for each other- on paper- but I don't want her. You have to know that." He said, desperately.

"Then what do you want?" I asked- I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

"I want you Max. But now it's clear that I missed my chance." He said, his eyes smouldering. I stepped closer to him.

"Who said you missed your chance?" I asked, confused.

"You and Fang are obviously back together now."

"No," I said, "We're not- but if it weren't for you we might be."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to see if I can be happy- with you- not with Fang. I want to _try _and see if there's something else out there for me- and right now that something is _you_."

This time, he was the one who stepped closer. We were so close our heads were almost touching. It was like I could feel electricity flowing through the air. My heart was racing faster than it ever had with Fang. Jace's eyes locked in on mine and his hand moved up to my cheek.

"Then," He breathed, "Let's _try._" And with that his lips pressed against mine. All thoughts of Fang, Dylan and Iggy were erased from my head. All I could focus on was Jace as he pulled me closer. There was something about the way he kissed me that made me feel like there were sparks flying everywhere, I could have been combusting and I wouldn't have cared. The atmosphere was charged and all I could focus on was kissing Jace. But all too quickly, he let me go. Even in the dark hallway, I could see the liquid gold that was present in Jace's eyes as he brushed my hair back from my face. Suddenly everything changed; reality came back in to play. Was I even ready for this? Before Jace could say anything, I pushed him away, wheeled around on the back of my heels and strode away. I dashed down the stairs and barricaded myself in the closest room I could find. It was one of the bedrooms, probably a guest room, and my room now. I closed the door and leaned my head against it.

Crap. What now? I moved over to the bed and sat down in the middle, clutching one of the throw pillows. I stared stonily at the crimson walls. No crying, no whimpering, just think about this Max. I decided I was going to put everything in to perspective. Lay it all out on the table, that way my decisions might be clearer. Hey, anything helps right?

So first things first,

1) Jace may or may not be in love with me. And I may or may not have ruined everything

2) This place has a kick ass training facility- I'll be putting that to good use

3) We still need to figure out how to beat Dr. G-H and his Erasers

4) I also need to figure out what exactly Jace's parents do on their missions. What qualifies them for anything?

5) Mr. Clone from Canada, Dylan is no longer on my radar. If the scientists created him to be perfect for me, then I didn't want any part of it. No one gets to decide what Maximum Ride does. Also, his little pseudo suicide attempt had really driven me over the edge.

6) Save the world

7) Save the world

8) Save the world

_Don't you think those should be higher on your list, Maximum? _My voice asked.

_Not now. You told me to focus, so that's what I'm doing. Leave me alone. _I answered back.

But of course, my voice never likes to listen- so it kept going. I was now totally focused on blocking it out. Finally interrupting my internal debate, Angel and Nudge came through the door. Nudge had brought my backpack.

"While you were gone Declan and Elena assigned us all rooms. I suppose this one's yours, so I brought you your backpack." Nudge smiled helpfully. She climbed up to sit on the bed with me. Angel stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently.

I sighed, "What now?"

"Could you please explain to me what the difference between now and one month ago is?" She started. Here we go... "You're still distracted, only this time you go off alone with Jace instead of Fang. You're not a good leader Max. You should put me back in charge."

"I never put you in charge in the first place!" I said defensively, "And that didn't exactly work out too well last time little Miss Hollywood!"

"So what now? We're here and you said that once we got here you'd have a plan- well, what is it?" She said.

"We just got here, Angel. And I'm working on it. I need some time. Right now we should stay under the radar until I figure things out."

"And how long will that take? I'm more powerful than you are; I can do things much faster and quicker! I'm a better leader!" She said stubbornly.

"Angel, stop it!" Nudge interjected.

"No, let her go on. Let her stab me in the back, over and over again. I should totally be used to it by now considering she's done it about a billion times already."

"That's not true!" Angel said childishly, "I'm prioritizing."

Fine, if Angel wanted to play it heartless then so could I.

"You're little 'prioritizing' got Fang killed, Angel!" I almost screamed. I'd never said something like that to Angel before. After Fang had died, Angel had shouldered the blame, but I told her otherwise- and now here I was, telling her that it was her fault. Of course it wasn't- it was a combination of everything that was happening. Angel's stubbornness certainly did play a role though. It was _me _who brought him back- not her.

"Max," Nudge said softly.

"No Nudge, it's okay." Angel said, much quieter now. She turned around and silently walked out the door. If it didn't happen before, it had certainly happened now- I had just lost Angel forever.

Nudge smiled at me apologetically, and then left to go find Angel. After I made sure I was alone, I pulled my backpack up beside me and grabbed a small box out of it. Was it a liability? Was it totally useless in a fight? Heck yes- but it had some of my most prized possessions in it. I wasn't willing to lose everything that was important to me- _again. _I reached into the box and grabbed the necklace Angel had given to me for my birthday. I stared at the snake jaw attached to the chain for a brief moment before I threw it at the door. The bone hit the wood with a small bang and shattered to a billion pieces on the floor.

_Good. _I thought to myself. _It was ugly anyway. _

_Don't be childish, Max. You need her. _My voice, once again unwelcome, interjected.

_I don't _need _anyone. _I answered stubbornly.

_Not true, Maximum. You need Dylan. You haven't tried hard enough. Don't you remember what he can do?_

Images of Dylan using his healing abilities flooded through my head. And I was also reminded of his extra 'sight'. Dylan could see things far away. I could see how that would be helpful...

_I'll be just fine thank-you-very-much. Besides, why should I listen to you? You're always wrong. You told me the whole thing with Dr. G-H wasn't a trap- and it was. _I said to my voice, in a matter-of-fact tone.

And for the first time, I think I outsmarted my voice.

I reached in to the box again and found the ring Fang had given me. It had last month's birthstone around a silver band- Simple but totally and completely girly- So it was a wonder that I liked it.

I pictured Jace, Fang and Dylan side by side. Right now Fang was out of the question- things just got back to normal. I put the ring back in the box. I was left with Jace and Dylan. Dylan was the one I was supposed to be with. The one that the very people I'm trying to destroy matched me up to be with. And finally, I was left with only a mental image of Jace. Process of elimination never failed. Or maybe my subconscious was slowly taking over my brain. Either way, I was happy with the final outlook: Jace.

And I had just messed everything up. Without thinking, I got up to go find him. For the first time, fate seemed to be on my side. I kicked aside the shattered remains of Angel's necklace and opened up the door. Jace was sitting against the wall, one of his hands tangled in his hair. He looked very dejected.

"Max!" He began to stand up, "I want to talk to you. About the kiss."

"I know." I smiled. "And, I'm sorry. I wasn't... prepared for it-For any of this. But I am now."

"Are you-" He started, but I cut him off.

"Yes. I'm sure." And with that, I took his hand and pulled him to me.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, my voice took on a tone of disapproval. But I prefer to look at it as temporary dismay.


	19. Chapter 18: Fun or fight?

Chapter 18- Fun or Fight? A fine line in between

I launched myself off the rope bordering the training ring. I slammed into Dylan's chest. The breath went out of him.

"Humph." He stumbled backwards. I drew back fist to hit him, but he raised his hands in surrender. "I give up! Please don't hurt me!"

The corner of my mouth quirked up. Angel and I still weren't speaking and fight training was really helping me work through my anger.

"Who's next?" I had challenged each flock member to a tournament. I started off in the ring, and whoever lost in the fight was out. So far I had managed to work my way through Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Claw, Natalie, Ian, and finally Dylan. It was just Alex, Fang and Jace left. Angel sat in a corner and refused to speak to me. Pfft. Whatever.

Alex stood up. She smiled at me and walked into the ring. "Are you putting on a show for your boyfriends?"

What?

I looked at her in confusion.

"I mean- You do have two after all. You kiss Jace but you won't let Fang move on. Are you going to date them both or make up your fickle mind and pick one?" She smiled again. Fang flinched. What a way to find out about Jace and me.

"Well, I guess having them both is better than lusting after them without them noticing." I smiled back. Apparently we were going to practice trash talking. Whatever floats your boat!

"Well, you know what they say Max, if you keep letting someone chase you they're going to get bored."

"They also say that the second choice is the fruit cup to the chocolate pudding." With that I threw myself forward and Alex raised her arms to block my but I ducked under her arm and hit her in the stomach. She stumbled backwards.

"Oof."

"It must suck having Angel talking back to you Max! I mean everyone always looks up to you, you have groupies! If you jumped off a cliff, they'd probably follow you if it looked like fun. How pathetic!"

"You're forgetting something Miss-know-it-all. Don't worry, I'll remind you. We have wings!" I grabbed her feet and pushed off the ground, soaring into the air and dangling her upside down. "And I do not have groupies!"

I dropped her and she snapped her wings out. "Okay, I guess we'll work on air combat." She smiled as she spoke, then launched herself at me. I slipped out of the way easily.

"Lesson #1. Too slow." She glared at me and went for round 2. I grinned and flew towards her as well. As we were about to meet in the middle, she shied left and avoided me.

"Lesson #2. Be prepared to meet in the middle." Her eyes narrowed again and she tried to fake me out by flying left then swerving right.

"Lesson #3. Don't let your opponent track your movement by giving it away with your eyes." I landed on the ground and tugged on her feet so she slammed down. "Not that this teaching stuff isn't fun, but I'm really getting bored. I think the winner is fairly clear. Who's next?" I turned and felt Alex slam into my side.

"Here's lesson #4 for you Max, never look away from your opponent." I sighed and looked at her from my pinned to the ground state. Suddenly I pushed up with my feet and arms, flipping her off me.

"Lesson's 5 and 6. Lesson 5, don't get cocky, and lesson 6, _never _under estimate your opponent. Next!" Alex stomped out of the arena and Fang came in.

"Hi." I lowered my eyes from his and he attacked me. We fought for a good ten minutes before Jace stepped in.

"I think we all understand that you guys are very even, but I believe I deserve a chance to fight the beautiful Maximum Ride?" He smirked, yes, he stole Fang's signature smirk, and stepped into the arena. Fang's hands closed in a fist.

"What happens if you lose Max? Do you have a mental breakdown?"

"I don't know. I never lose." I smiled and he leapt forward, shoving me backward and pinning me to the ground.

"Niether do I."

"Well, it appears we have a slight conundrum." I kept my face utterly serious until we met each other's eyes and burst out laughing.

Ian spoke up, "Not that we don't enjoy watching you flirt, but would it be possible for this tournament to continue?"

"He speaks!" I let my mouth drop and covered it with my hand. The flocks grinned. Then Jace slammed into my side and pushed me into the ropes surrounding the mat.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed. There was a fair bit of force behind the hit.

"He's right Max. Let's fight." It was like Jace had switched his emotions off. His golden eyes dimmed slightly and his face became guarded. My eyes met his and my stance shifted from fun to fight. This wasn't the flirty Jace I knew. This was different.

"Sure." I agreed warily, wondering what I was getting myself into. It was my turn to hit, but from my own experience, I was a better fighter when I was reacting, as opposed to initiating. That way, my instincts took over. Jace took my still figure in quickly and flung me over to the other side of the arena with super human- excuse me- super mutant- strength. As I hit the floor and the breath drove out of me I felt my instincts kick in.

My wings snapped out and I leapt into the air, I had been flying longer, giving me the advantage. Jace joined me above the mat. I dove at him and he made the mistake of believing I was bluffing, and didn't move. I hit him with my hands out and drove him down towards the mat, but he whipped his wings out, interrupting my momentum. We both stopped mid air and he kicked me upwards, in the stomach. My breath flew out and I got mad.

"What the he-" He charged at me and without thinking, I flew full speed to meet him. We crashed in the middle and grappled in the air until we fell. He had my feet in a lock and I had his hands pinned to his sides.

"What is going on here?" The door opened and two people stepped in.

Jace's emotions flooded back into his face and he grinned at me. "Max, meet my parents."


	20. Chapter 19: Family Reunion

Chapter 19- Family Reunion 

Meeting the parents. That was a big step, I thought to myself. So big, that I tripped over my feet when I went to extend my hand to them. Smooth Max, real smooth.

"I'm Maximum Ride." I managed to get out with a smile.

"Don't worry about introductions, we know very well who all of you are." Jace's mother smiled.

"But as for us, I'm Stephen, and this is my wife, Celine." The man stepped forward. He was a tall, broad shouldered man, who looked absolutely identical to Jace. He smiled with what seemed like all the confidence in the world. He was probably an amazing Dad. Celine, who stood beside him smiled at all of us. She was tall, slender and athletically built. She on the other hand had no resemblance to her son. She had dark brown hair, almost black, but with flints of red and brown where the light hit it. Her eyes were as dark as her hair as well, and unlike the tone of her son and husband, she was very pale- and not to mention absolutely gorgeous. Self-consciously, I pulled at my ragged jeans and t-shirt. First Elena, now Celine. Life hated me.

"We were just in the middle of training." Jace smiled warmly at his parents.

"Oh, then carry on, don't let us bother you" Celine smiled back and the two of them left the room.

For some reason or another, Angel stood next to Gazzy, wearing her ever-present frown of distaste.

"You know Angel, I'm beginning to think your little frowning problem is a little troubling. Cheer up sweet-heart." I said sarcastically, the hint of a smirk playing on my lips.

"I don't have time for your games, Maximum." She turned her nose up studiously. "I thought we were here for-"

"Business- Yup, and my first order of business is to shove my foot-"

"Max!" Nudge stopped me, "Enough" When she saw that I was about to speak again "I don't care if you were joking." She winked at me. "Just be cool, just for a little while?"

"I will if she will." I said, jutting my jaw out stubbornly.

"Real mature Maximum." Angel spat.

"Don't call me that." I said sternly.

"Why not? It's your name. And not a very good one at that" She still had her nose in the air.

"And Angel is?" I began defensively "You're definitely no saint"

"Enough guys" This time it was Fang who stepped in, "apologize Max"

"What? Why? Not everything's my fault Fang, she was being rude!" I said childishly.

"By calling you by your name?"

I could feel myself blushing, but I wasn't so embarrassed as to swallow my pride. So instead- you know me- I babbled on like an idiot.

"It's the principle of the matter! She never calls me Maximum, only my enemies do! To you guys I'm just Max." I argued pathetically.

"Well then," Angel peaked around Fang, "Consider me an enemy" she spun around and sauntered out of the room- her nose still in the air.

Dear Flock,

I can't do this anymore. Don't come for me, I won't come back this time. Things are too different and Maximum is too immature and incapable of fulfilling her mission. Remember my name, I'll be the one saving the world.

-Angel.

_Not again. _Was all I could think.

_I'm not doing this again. No way in hell am I going after her. _

But it was Angel, I had to.

I showed the letter to everyone before ripping it up and throwing the pieces into the fireplace. The crackling of the burning wood seemed to be calming me, I sat down on the love-seat next to Jace.

"Now what?" He asked irritated. "We're going to go after her? Give her what she wants and save her again so it can all be what you people call 'normal' for a little while? It'll just happen again. We're better off."

"How can you say that?" I asked, astounded. "She's my family! I have to go. _We _have to go. It's no longer 'you people'. We're all in this together now" I was dumbfounded by Jace's new apathy for keeping the flock together.

"Let her go her own way." He said softly, as if he'd just caught himself. "She'll be alright. She's learned from the best. Its easier this way for everybody. Hey, it couldn't hurt to have someone else out there make an effort to save the world too, right?" I could see something shimmer in Jace's liquid gold eyes, but I couldn't tell if it was sincerity.

"Don't we get a say? I know we're all for unity, but she's still _our _little sister!" Fang snapped.

"You're right." I broke from Jace's gaze. "Let's vo-" but something cut me off. How could we vote about something like this? It just showed how detached we'd become with Angel. The little girl I used to call 'my baby' not very long ago.

Gazzy had his head in his heads, I knew he was hiding tears.

"Let her do what she wants. Her hate for you is obviously more important than her love for the rest of us. I don't care if she ever comes back." Before I could reply Gazzy ran out of the room. Fang, Nudge, Iggy and I followed.

This was one of the only times the Gasman cried. The last time I saw him like this was when we thought we'd lost Jeb. We were all a mess that day. We'd lost of our father- and now, our sister. This was more than that to Gazzy though. He lost his only blood relative- His only real connection to his real parents and his real life, regardless of how awful those people could be.

"Don't try to change my mind." He sniffed and leaned his head back against the stone wall.

"I won't" I whispered.

"Max." Fang and Iggy started. Nudge was patting Gazzy on the shoulder.

"Things are too different now. She's family, yes, but things have changed. She doesn't even want us to find her."

"She's just a kid Max." Fang said softly.

"So are we." I met his gaze.

"Where's she going to go?" Iggy asked desperately.

"That's not for us to worry about now" Fang said. I was surprised beyond belief by his change of heart. At that moment, Iggy knew that it was no use, I could see the defeat in his eyes.

"Let's make a pact right now. I hereby declare we all stick together from now on. _No matter what._" Nudge stuck out her hand, balled into a fist. Each of us stacked ours on top. I looked to my flock and then focused my gaze back to Fang. He nodded back at me. "Deal. Together forever."

And just like that, we were bound for life.

For the rest of the afternoon we all took it pretty slow. The decision not to go after Angel had seemingly created some awkward tension between all of us. It was quickly dissolving.

Elena showed an awestruck Nudge and Natalie her room and now Nudge was begging me to take her back to Paris so she could buy stuff for her room.

"What room Nudge? We're hobos again." I reminded her.

"Extremely skilled and well kept hobos I might add." Winked Fang, and I couldn't help but blush.

"We're like nomads." Gazzy jumped.

"Land pirates." Said Claw.

"You mean thugs?" Ian asked, "I'd like to think of us as more as teenage mutant ninja birds." We all burst out laughing. I was actually beginning to enjoy the extra company.

In all the fun, I barely noticed Jace stand up and leave. I most definitely didn't miss Fang getting up to follow. I decided to spy. Hey? I was bored with no Angel to mess with. Too soon?

I caught the pair in mid conversation.

"Following me in my own house now? I thought we were passed this. Max trusts me." Jace sneered the last part.

"I think it's my job to _make sure _she _can _trust you. Best friends after all." He crossed his finger and winked. Ah, I sighed, maturity at its finest.

"Max is a big girl. She can make her own decisions- especially when it comes to boys." I had never seen Jace like this, so cold and juvenile.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fang sounded like he knew already. And I think I did too. His hands were clenched into fists.

"I mean, she's certainly got enough of them at her disposal. It's a wonder she could choose."

Fang's nails were digging into his skin now.

"No one likes a sore loser, Fang."

Before I could really comprehend the situation, Fang punched Jace square in the jaw.

"Fang!" I ran out of the shadows. My first instinct was to see if he was alright. I could see Jace going for hit and I got in between the pair, grabbing Jace's fist before it could make contact with Fang.

"Stop it!" I yelled, twisting Jace's arm around and throwing it back at him. Everyone ran out of the living room to see the bloody mess Fang had left.

"What is wrong with you?" I screamed at them as Alex asked what happened. "You guys are ruining everything!"

"I was er... defending your honour." Coming from Fang the words were laughable.

"This isn't the 1800s I can defend myself thank you."

I didn't even know where to start with Jace.

"Max, I'm sorry. I was just trying to provoke Fang. I didn't mean any of it." Jace tried to explain. I crossed my legs and sat down on the steps, pretending to listen. When I saw he was finished, I tried to form a sentence, "You're not who I thought you were- I don't even-"

Alex interrupted- "What the HELLis going on here?"

_Why is my life like a bad soap-opera?_ I asked myself

_Because you make it like one, _my voice answered, I ignored it.

"Don't worry about it." I was too embarrassed.

"I see. Official flock business. Just like earlier." Dylan started. "Am I just like... a piece of raw meat to you or something?

"Course not" Alex crossed her arms, "She'd have devoured you by now."

"What are you talking about? We didn't stop you from following us." Iggy argued.

"It doesn't even matter because it's always going to come down to this. You guys vs. Us. Cut this team work crap you've been spinning, you're a hypocrite and I'm tired of trying." Alex said angrily.

"We do need each other! It's not a lie, it's not a secret- I'll admit it- _I need you guys. _Why are you so obsessed with feeling needed? Would you like a cookie every time you help me or something?" I added the last part sarcastically.

"We can't help you if you shut us out." Ian said, much more calmly than Alex.

"Don't be mad at Max. I was only honouring our pact." Fang defended.

"Of course. Looking out for number one- just like always. Get some individuality Fang, she uses you when she needs you and then when she's done she stops caring until the next time." Jace jumped in.

"That's not true- Just stop" I started but Alex interrupted again,

"What pact?" She said, her voice low and calm- too calm.

You could've heard a pin drop. It was like that epic moment in those TV shows where you find out the defendant really is guilty. I hate being the defendant.

"Don't worry about it." Fang finally said. "It's not important." He lied- but it only made things worse.

"If it's not important than do tell" Dylan pretended to look enthralled at Fang, placing his hand on his chin as if to ponder something.

I put my hand on my head and listened as they argued. I couldn't take it anymore- I wouldn't. I'm MAXIMUM RIDE.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP" I screamed.

"What is going on?" Jace's Dad came down the stairs, followed by Celine.

"Jace why are you bleeding?" She asked worriedly.

"Training gone wrong." Declan lied.

"Mhm. Fang, would you like some ice for that fist of yours? I wonder what you could have hit..." Celine pretended to think about it.

"You two," Stephen looked to Jace and Fang- "We need to talk. We were going to wait but now is a good time." Fang looked extremely confused.

"I'm coming." I said, expecting them to argue.

"Very well. The rest of you, separate until you can deal with each other like adults." Celine pointed at the rest of the flocks.

"You're. Kidding. me." I enunciated each word carefully. I felt like I was about to faint.

"I wouldn't joke about this, Max." Stephen insisted.

"Mom, Dad, why didn't you tell me before?" Jace asked. He looked at them with wide eyes.

"Jace, we thought you would be happy." Celine looked disappointed.

"Fang, _please _say something." I grabbed his arm for support.

"We thought you'd be happier too Fang." Stephen eyed him.

"Of all the people in the world..." Fang muttered. "Why, please tell me why you-"

Stephen cut him off, "I hope you don't resent us for our choices, I'll explain in due time."

"Due time is _now, _Stephen." Fang began, "Or... should I say, father?"


	21. Chapter 20: Family Stuff

Chapter 20

I could feel his muscles tense as he said the word 'father'. His hand subconciously grabbed mine and he squeezed it. I returned the pressure and he let out a breath. Stephen started speaking again.

"I'd prefer dad, if that's okay Fang. Father is a bit too formal for me."

"Well considering I haven't had a dad for the past sixteen years I hope you will forgive me for my ignorance of the proper _formality _with which I am supposed to address my recently aquired father figure." He continued to crush my hand with the strength in his fingers.

"Fang… Please understand we wanted to see you over the past few years but-" Celine spoke.

"Few years?" I spat. "It's been over a decade."

"But-" She continued as if I hadn't spoken "We just couldn't find you."

"I'm sure the person you sold me to at the School could have given you some clue."

"Sold you? Never! We gave you up for adoption at a well respected agency! We had no idea what had happened. One day we read in the newspaper that a child had been kidnapped from the agency we gave you to. We were heartbroken when we found out it was you, so we tried to sue but we just didn't have the money." It sounded legit but I knew that the more detailed a story was, the higher a probability of it being a lie.

"Ha! That sounds like a lie to me." Jace voiced my concern. "So, you gave Fnick here, up for adoption because you were too young to raise him but it was okay to have me like, a year later?"

"We had you more than a year after we gave Fang up Jace. It had been 4 years since we'd given Fang up and both Steve and I were older, physically and mentally. We weren't foolish 18 year olds anymore. We were 22 with jobs."

"So, having Fang was foolish?" I asked.

"No! Giving him up was foolish! My baby was kidnapped from an adoption agency because I didn't think I could take care of him, and what did they do? Experiments!"

"And what do you do now? Experiments!" I shot back.

"Experiments to try and control what the ITECH did to you. Everything we did was because of Fang and Jace." Stephen finished the story. "So, what do you say, son?"

What I wanted to happen was:

Fang: I say that you're stupid for giving me up. I also ask what you want me to say to you after you spring that on me.

Stephen: I don't relly know how to respond to that but you were born in Finland and so your real name is Kulmahammas. We were going to call you Kull, or Hammy, but you can go by Fang if you want.

Fang: You've got to be kidding me. –storms out of room and pulls me with him- Wow. I can't believe them.

Me: Neither can I.

Fang: You know I really missed you.

Me: Who doesn't? –Fang looks at me and rolls his eyes- I missed you too.

Fang: -Kisses Max-

But what really happened was:

Fang looked at Stephen. "It's nice to finally meet you Mom and Dad." And then they all left the room as one big happy family.

!#$%^&*()-

User: Maximum. Ride  
You are reader number: If you really wanna know it's probably something like maxillion ha.

Hello dear faithful readers.

Guess what? A. I'm in a top secret institute! B. Angel left me and C. Fang found his parents! D. I'm not dating Fang anymore, E. Jace and I kissed but aren't dating either! F. Alex hates me, G. Iggy and I are tight, H. Ian rocks my socks when he speaks and I. Dylan's fallen off the edge of the earth. You've missed out on a lot!

So ya. Now for my points of view on these things.

A. I'm in a top secret insitute. That speaks for itself. It ROCKS. Looks like a shack, but is really like some super cool place like the basement of the house in X-Men. OMG WE'RE LIKE THE X-MEN. Sorry. I've entirely lost my marbles due to events A-H.

B. Angel left me. Boo hoo. Srsly, I miss her and I don't know why she left. I'd go find her but I think this is something she has to do on her own. That I don't know where she is. Angel, if you're reading this, I miss you baby and I hope whatever you're doing goes safely and you come home soon (with a better attitude, but that would just be a plus).

C. Fang found his parents. The biggest thing that happened so far. I don't really know what to make of it. I always knew we'd probs find each others parents, but I didn't think any of them would run an institute, or trigger my lying detector. I don't know whether or not to trust them, but I should give them a chance. Right?...

D. I'm not dating Fang anymore. I'm still in love with him. I always will be, but we're trying the just friends thing for now. HA. See how long that lasts. No one can resist my charms…. Well that and I still love him and hopefully he loves me.

E. I kissed Jace. Yup. Multiple times. We're not dating. I don't love him, but I do like him. We'll see where it goes but I doubt it's gonna go that far.

F. Alex hates me. What else is new?

G. Iggy and I are tight. We're BFFLs. It rocks.

H. Ian rocks my socks when he speaks. I heard Ian speaks! And he's hilarious! I adore him. In a very mutual friendship way.

I. Dylan's fallen off the edge of the earth. Where'd he go? If you find him or his voice/points of view, please return him to me. Thanks.

Enjoy the ride.

Yours featherly

* * *

Please R&R! Tell me what you think!

PS: Live life to the Max!

Q+A (13587 questions)

Well now I'm just honoured! You're amazing! So many questions… But unfortunately, so little time. The parents Fang limited my computer time and so I can only answer a few. SORRY!

Jessica Where on earth is the institute? I'd totally love to visit

MaxTheUltimateRide I totally love to tell you. Except it's totally top secret. Hehe.

Angel Wish things were different Max. But they aren't. Thanks for the wishes I'll make sure to save you when the world ends.

MaxTheUltimateRide Thanks for the generosity.

Ella OMG THAT IS AMAZING! FANG FOUND HIS PARENTS! AND YOU AND IGGY AS BEST FRIENDS ROCK!

MaxTheUltimateRide Haha thanks Ella. I'll be sure to talk to you soon :) Say hi to mom for me.

TheRedHairedWonder So you and Fang broke up? Darn. Hope Jace works out for you!

MaxTheUltimateRide Did you miss my whole 'I love him' thing. Guess so :)

DylanLover I feel so bad for Dylan. I hope he's okay.

MaxTheUltimateRide So do I, if only he'd speak more and stop being a ghost. I'm sure everything will work out.

I closed the laptop.


	22. Chapter 21: Parting Ways

**A/N: Hey everyone. I am SOOOO sorry that I haven't updated! It's been forever, I know... But if you're reading this thank you so much for not giving up on me ;p There's probably only a few chapters left, we're in the home stretch and it should be finished and completely uploaded soon. Again, I am super sorry, which is why I uploaded 2 chapters today. Exams, blah blah blah, kept me busy... Anyways, please, read and enjoy!**

**-Skye**

* * *

Chapter 21

"It's all your fault" Angel said. She was standing across from me, close to the edge of the cliff. We were high up, on a mountain somewhere perhaps. The sky was an odd shade of blue and there were no clouds in the sky. She had her arms and her legs were shoulder width apart, looking determined.

"What do you want from me, Angel? I'm trying here, just give me a break." I said lamely.

"You don't care about anyone but yourself" She ignored me.

"That's not true! I care about everything- I care too much! I care about _you, _Angel. Please believe me."

"Then why didn't you come after me?" She said, less sternly than before.

"You told me not to." I said pathetically.

"It's because you don't care."

"That's not true."

"Prove it."

"I can't. Just believe me Angel. You have to trust me." I started walking towards her, she was backing up with every step I took. "Stop Angel. This is stupid. It's me, Max."

"I don't know who you are anymore. And I don't want to." She kept backing up.

"Angel you'll fall, I'm not in the mood to chase after you."

"Because you don't care" and with a tone of finality she fell backwards, without extending her wings, freefalling. She was gone.

I woke up with a jolt. Tears in my eyes and hair stuck to my face with sweat. I got up to go find the kitchen to get a glass of water.

I was still trying to absorb the idea of Fang and Jace being brothers- that must've been why I was having such weird dreams. Yeah, that was it.

I tiptoed down the hall careful not to wake anybody when I heard them. Jace and his parents were talking in the den in hushed tones. I pressed my back against the wall next to the door to listen.

"What now? We've got Fang and Max which means we've got the rest of them. They trust us." Jace said.

"Be patient son. We've got to execute this carefully or it won't work." I heard Stephen sit down behind the desk.

What the hell were they talking about? What plan? What trust- there was trust between us?

"I still don't get why you gave Fang away... You could have done this to him yourselves." Jace went on.

"We didn't have the resources then. I refuse to be associated with the school, it's a joke. How they let the flock get out is beyond me." Celine brushed off the question.

"But Dr. G-H let them get away last year." Jace persisted.

"Not before killing our son. He owes us. We're merely using his research and lab." Stephen explained.

WHAT WAS GOING ON? My breathing sped up.

"Soon we'll have them on our side." Celine said, "Then the rest of the world will give in too. We can't stop until everyone's been... altered."

Altered? What. The. Hell?

"Why can't you just say it? You sound like you're embarrassed." Jace laughed. "Hybrids are the future, there's no shame. Just look at me- imagine the world when everyone's like this- and imagine what'll happen to our family when we succeed- we'll be famous- we'll rule everything. It'll be so sick."

I heard Declan's voice, I didn't know he was there. "Are you sure this is right? Shouldn't we give people a choice?"

Elena answered, "Why? We didn't have one."

I learned many things today. Things I wish I could un-learn.

1. This place was really a mad house

2. Jace and his family were using us

3. They were working with Dr. G-H

4. They want to rule the world- freaks.

5. They want to make everyone hybrids- freakier

6. Jace was just using me.

7. Fang trusts them

8. Angel sucks- but I still love her

9. I love Fang

10. We needed to leave.

As much as I prioritized executing my plan to make Fang take me back- number 9- I knew number 10 was a necessity. I ran down the hall on my tip toes careful not to make too much noise and burst into Fang's room, closing the door behind me.

"Fang! Wake up!" I jumped onto his bed and hit him with a stray pillow.

"Wha?" He murmured groggily, he picked up the clock on the bedside table to check the time- it was just after 2:30. When he put it back down I noticed a bottle of pills on the table- sleeping pills. Yeah right. The situation was definitely worse than I thought. What if they were drugging the rest of us?

"Is this real life?" He fell back down on his pillow.

"Yes, you idiot. I need to talk to you!" I jumped.

"Shhh" He put his hand over his mouth lamely, "It's sleepy-time" He yawned, "I love you Max, nighty night" and he pulled me down to lie next to him. I was suddenly hyper-aware of Fang's body.

As much as I wanted to fall asleep right there- and talk about how much I loved him back- I needed to tell him what I'd found out.

"No Fang, this is serious. I need you to listen to me right now." I sat up and pulled him with me. "Sober up this is important"

"I'm..." I could tell he was trying to focus. He rubbed his eyes and flattened out his hair. Without thinking I ran my fingers through it. I was sitting on my knees across from him. I pulled my hand away when he looked up at me.

"It's alright you know" It was as if the side effects of whatever he took had already disappeared.

"As much as I'd love to talk about this- whatever it is- right now we have bigger problems."

"What's up?" He said, no tone of seriousness whatsoever in his voice.

"Jace and his family are evil." I said simply.

Once again- here's what I'd like to have happened:

"I hate to say I told you so..."

"So don't. Here's what I-"

"I don't care" He'd interrupt, "Say the word and I'll follow. I love you Max."

And then he'd take me in his arms and we'd fall madly in love- again.

But after I'd explained what I heard, something that I'd never have expected in a million years happened.

"I don't believe you." He said, entirely back to normal now. Well... "normal" wasn't exactly the right word.

"What?" I put my hands on his shoulders and made him look at me, "You have to. I wouldn't lie to you- I know what I heard."

"They're my parents Max. They wouldn't lie to me. You probably heard everything wrong. Go to sleep- in your own room." He brushed my hands away.

"Fang- they gave you away. You can't trust these people."

"You trust your parents- let me trust mine." He said stubbornly.

"That's different. I _know _I can trust my Mom- she's gained my trust- I didn't meet her this morning- She took care of me-"

"For 14 years she didn't."

"Why are you bringing my Mom into this? You just met Celine and Stephen- you didn't trust Jace until you found out who really is!"

"You have your family- let me have mine. This is my only chance, Max. Don't."

"Don't what? Tell you the truth? You're the only family I need Fang- I love you more than you know- I need you to believe me. Why would I lie to you?" I wanted to slap him almost as much as I wanted to wrap my arms around him.

"You're only saying this because Jace broke your heart- that's the only reason why you're saying you love me now too. Things with Jace and Dylan didn't work out and now you want me back. I don't play that way Max. Its time I start making my own rules."

What was so bitter about this whole situation wasn't that he wouldn't believe me now- it was that last month if I'd said those three words to him he would've taken me in his arms and said them back- and we wouldn't be in this situation. What was even worse was that I'd had plenty of opportunities to do so- and I turned him down.

"Why would you think that? I'm not using you- I need you to come with me. We can't stay here. These people are evil- and deep down you know it."

"You're leaving?" He asked, ignoring everything else I'd said.

Ignoring what he'd said I went on. "It's funny who you can trust these days. You know, of all the people in this world- I never thought _you _would be the one to take their side. _Anyone- just not you Fang- anyone but you_. If earlier today someone had told me I'd be sitting here with you actually _discussing _something like this I would've laughed in their face. I'm getting out of here and I'm taking the flocks." I leapt off the bed. "At least they trust me- for now anyways- but then again, you never know who _really _loves you until you see them prove it."

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**A/N: Again, sorry for the late update, hope you liked it, please review :)**


	23. Chapter 22: The aftermath

**A/N: As promised, here's the other chapter. Hope you like it :)**

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Chapter 22

I stalked around my room grabbing as many garments of clothing as I could fit in my backpack. I was still fuming from talking/ arguing with Fang. I glared at my bag. Why was it that I could have a single backpack for two years while I was constantly on the run, yet I couldn't manage to stay on good terms with the love of my life for more than two months at a time? It was quite frustrating.

I hurried down the hallway as stealthily as a ninja. With wings. And had a problem keeping her mouth shut. Alright, maybe not a ninja, more like a parrot. Anyways, I headed into Alex's room. I tapped her shoulder lightly. She rolled over with her eyes open. She hadn't been sleeping.

"What?"

"Good morning to you too."

"It's night."

"Whatever. Listen, we need to get out of here." Alex's eyes opened a bit wider.

"Why?"

"I don't trust Jace's family. As crazy as it sounds, I just heard them talking about world domination, and as much as I hate cliché things, it sounded pretty legit."

"The evil scientist wants to take over the world? They use their son to convince the leader they're good people and then claim to be the parents of the hot, young love interest of the leader? Good golly I never would have guessed." I laughed despite my usual hatred of Alex and decided to overlook the comment about Fang's hotness factor. Besides, it was a fact. Not an opinion. A fact.

"So, do you believe me or not?"

"Please. Ever since I saw that Elena girl plastered to Jace… I've had my doubts. That and I have yet to meet a non-evil scientist who enigineers bird-children." We grinned at each other. She was alright for now.

"Great. Would you mind going to get the younger kids for me? Nudge, Natalie and Angela should be in one room and Gazzy and Claw in another. I'll grab Ian, Iggy and Dylan." Alex nodded and we went our separate ways.

"Ig? Ian? Dylan? We gotta go." Fang was in a separate room.

"Wha?" Ian called sleepily. Dylan moved steathily to stand next to me.

"What's going on?"

"What do you think? The scientists turned evil and want to take over the world. Blah blah blah. Come on, we really need to go."

"Where's Fang?" Dylan almost sounded snide. I chose to ignore it.

"He's not coming." I retorted. His jaw dropped and Ian and Iggy hopped out of bed. I went over to Iggy's side.

"He's not coming?" He whispered.

"No. He's not." I sounded resigned.

"I oughta beat him up. For all the times he's ditched us…"

"It's his family Iggy."

"Sometimes family doesn't work out." I sighed and wrapped my arm around his waist to guide him.

"I know. But sometimes it does. He feels we owe him the chance to find out." Iggy snorted. I shook my head with a sad smile. We left out the door and got to the elevator of the institute. Jace and Fang stood there. I noticed the similarities between them. They both had determined looks on their faces, and actually looked like brothers.

"You can't leave Max."

"You can't stop me."

"Watch me."

"I'd like to see you try." I grinned at Jace and he flinched.

"At least tell us why you're leaving? Fang here won't say a word." Jace rolled his eyes.

"He knows. It's enough." I hit the elevator button. Jace pulled me back.

"I can't stop you, but he can." He nodded at Fang. Fang stepped forward and grabbed my arm. I held onto Jace's as the elevator door opened and the flock stepped inside. Alex nodded at me and closed the door. They'd wait for me outside. Jace glared at me and then at my hand. I let go and he stalked away. As soon as he was out of hearing range Fang spoke.

"Don't leave Max."

"I don't trust them. It's too much like the school and Dr. G-H." Fang rolled his eyes.

"You don't always have to save the world Max. Sometimes it's okay to just be you." I raised my eyes to meet his and spoke quietly.

"Saving the world is me. I have to save it because there's no one else to."

"That's where you're always wrong Max. There are other people out there to save it."

"Yeah, there was you. Besides us, no one can stop what's coming from these people. For all we know, there could be thousands of others plans like these with kids like us. Just like us those kids save their world. I'm saving ours. Or what used to be ours." My voice rose.

"It still is Max. I still love you."

"I don't believe you! These people have been out of your life for sixteen years! I've been there. I taught you to fly. I taught you to ride a metaphorical bike. I paid for food. I kept us safe. I've been there!" I repeated.

"These people are nothing to you! They have done nothing to deserve your trust and I have done everything! We used to trust each other with our lives Fang. You were the only person I trusted completely-" He cut me off.

"You still can." He sounded angry.

"No I don't think I can, because for the first time in my life, I don't trust you. You are just a guy who broke my heart." Fang flinched. "It's life or death, Fang. It's truth or lies. It's our world or their world. It's me or them. You can't have us both. I wish you could but you can't. I asked you earlier to choose, and you did. You didn't choose me. You chose them. I won't tell you that you chose wrong but I hope that someday you'll understand the full consequences of your choice. I love you Fang and I will love you forever. I heard that love is complicated and simple. It's stubborn and vulnerable, strong but it still needs protection. It's fearless. And I'm scared. I'm scared of losing you. I'm scared of leaving you. But most of all, I'm scared of being alone in the face of all of this." Fang looked at me and his eyes were darker then I'd ever seen them. I could easily lose myself in their depths.

"Max, I… I made… I don't… I wish…" He struggled for words. I took a step towards him, put my hands on either side of his face.

"I love you Fang. Good bye." I pulled his face to mine and kissed him. His lips were soft. He grabbed me by my waist and pulled me to him, as if he were trying to crush us into one person. I never wanted it to end. The intensity built until a single tear ran down my face. I pulled back.

"Max, don't leave me." He begged quietly.

"Good bye." I stepped into the elevator and closed the door. I leaned against the wall and let out a breath, wiping the tear from my cheek. I never heard him speak. But, as the elevator door closed, he sank down against a wall and buried his head in his hands.

"I chose wrong."

We arrived at my mom's house later in the next day. Where else would we go but to the home of the world's best chocolate chip cookies? I smiled to myself. We landed and I knocked on the door. It opened and my mom stood there.

"Max!" She wrapped me in a hug. Ella came flying down the stairs, but instead of hugging me, she threw her arms around Iggy and kissed him. Every single person's jaw dropped. Hit the ground. Hard.

After they broke apart Iggy grinned. "What?" As if he could see us, he rolled his eyes. "You aren't the only one who uses the computer to email people. We chat!" Everyone laughed.

"Mom, Ella, this is Alex, Ian, Natalie, Claw and Angela. Guys, this is my mom, and that's Ella. Jeb, my dad is probably somewhere in the house."

"He's taking cookies out of the oven." I barreled past her.

After an hour of blissful cookie eating I slipped into conversation Angel was missing and we were going to look for her. It was really smooth and subtle, but my family gaped at me anyways as if I had six heads, four legs and a beak.

"What?" I explained and my mom leaned back against her chair. "Oh Max, this is not good!"

Ella spoke, "I'd help you looked but I don't think I can find any Dr. G-H secret hideouts on google." We all laughed.

Jeb still hadn't spoken. "Jeb?" I asked. I still refused to call him dad.

"I know where she might be. I heard about this through the rumour mill of evil scientists years back. They were taking about some scientist who's name I couldn't pronounce, but his initials, if I remember correctly were G-H."

"Where?"

"I don't know if you know the spot. It's on top of this cave by a cliff where there's this HUGE flock of hawks."

Of course I did. It was where I was supposed to meet Fang in twenty years. Oh karma, how you amuse me.

"I know the place."

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**A/N: Hope you liked it. R&R, and I promise I will update soon. I SWEAR!**


	24. Chapter 23: Finally

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Hope you like it! Thanks to all those who reviewed :)

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Chapter 23

"You. Let. Them. Go?" Stephen enunciated each word carefully, as if trying not to lose his temper.

"I had to! I couldn't tell them the truth, we'll get them back, I promise!" Jace tried to defend himself. If he were being perfectly honest he probably couldn't stop Max and the others if he tried.

"What truth?" Fang asked, careful not to sound too suspicious.

"Can I tell him? I can trust him; after all he didn't go with them. That has to count for something." Jace looked at his father hopefully. Elena rolled her eyes.

"What's your problem?" He turned to her with a cold glare.

"You trust _everybody- _more than you should. That's why you're weak." She brushed back her hair.

"I'm not weak." He said with a deadly undertone.

"Wait" Fang cut in. "I think I know what you want from me- and that's to help you get them back. Max told me everything before they left- and the fact that I'm still here proves that I trust you guys- so I'm asking you to please trust me. I know what you want and I intend on helping you get it."

"In that case son, I'm going to ask you to do something for me." Stephen turned away from Jace.

"Anything... _father._" Fang put extra emphasis on the last word.

"Find them. Gain the girl's trust. Bring them back here." Stephen put his hand awkwardly on Fang's shoulder. It wasn't a gesture of love, or that's not what it felt like to Fang, but regardless he agreed.

"I won't let you down." He nodded, and then ran to his room to gather his things.

"You can fly! You can fly! You can fly!" Ian sang

"Think of the happiest things..." Iggy continued.

"It's the same as having wings" Gazzy winked"

"Take the path that moonbeams make" The girls all joined in.

"If the moon is still awake, you'll see him wink his eye" Ian joined in again,

"You can fly, you can fly, you can fly!" Everyone sang.

"Hey, Peter and the lost boys- shut the hell up." I veered around them all to avoid their happy singing faces.

"Off you go with a merry heigh ho..." Iggy mumbled the lyrics now.

I shot him a deadly look.

"Come on Max!" Nudge smiled, "Bid your cares goodbye" she sang.

"I mean, we are flying after all."

"Goodbye Nana!" Gazzy waved down at the ground where no doubt my Mom, Jeb, Ella, Total and Akila were watching. I swore I heard Total shout something vulgar back. The house was slowly becoming a spec as we flew farther away.

"You know Max, I'd be singing if Under the Sea if we were swimming right now." Ian defended himself.

"How about I drown you- Then we'll see if life is still the bubbles under the sea." Alex winked at me.

In all honesty, this back and forth banter was probably helpful, it helped me avoid thinking about how I was going back to that cliff top- a place I didn't think I'd see again for 20 years. How dramatic irony loved me.

I let the flock continue their horrible renditions- which I'm not going to lie, I kind of enjoyed. We flew straight on not stopping for anything. It was only when Dylan and Natalie started singing A Whole New World did I begin to hallucinate. I had flown ahead of the flock to get a better idea of where we should stop for the night, which was approaching too quickly. I was beginning to see the sun setting and I saw the moon emerging from behind the clouds. I looked to my left to scope out the ground below- and that's when I saw him- or what I thought was him.

Fang looked at me and smiled his usually smirk.

"Race ya" He looked at me slyly. His voice was echo-like.

_You're not real. _I said. _Get out of my head, this is all fake. You're gone and I'm never getting you back. Leave. _I pleaded with my subconscious.

"You're wrong." He went on, "I'm always here. You can't get rid of me. I'm a part of you. I'm in your heart Max, and you can't ever get rid of me. As hard as you try you can't."

_What if I'm not trying?_

Fang could only think of one place Max would go and that was to her Mom's house. After what he'd said to her about family there was no doubts in his mind that she wouldn't go running off to the magical chocolate chip cookie house. His mouth watered just thinking about it. Max knew what it was like to have a family- and she was right- he didn't- and he never would. Deep inside of him he had a burning desire to do what he said he would. Bring back Max and force her to stay with his family- to help them. It would be so much easier to do it. He could manipulate Max so fast and she would never know. He couldn't do that, he kept telling himself he had to be stronger than that. He kept telling himself he _was _stronger than that- but after the past few days, he didn't know anymore.

He flew at full speed and arrived at the house a little bit after 3 am. Disregarding the hour and any common courtesy he banged on the door.

"Ella, Dr. Martinez! Open up, its Fang!"

Ella and her mother both grabbed their robes and opened the door letting in the night's cool air.

"Where did they go?" He demanded.

"Fang come inside, it's freezing" Dr. Martinez led him to the small round kitchen table. She put a plate of cookies in front of him. He was about to protest when she pushed him back down to sit.

"Eat- and then we'll talk."

"I'll eat _and _we can talk" He bargained.

"Deal" Ella agreed. "They went to find Angel."

"What?" He dropped the cookie and it crumbled in his plate leaving a mess of melted chocolate and crumbs.

"They're on their way to the cliff by Lake Mead- Max knows the place so I assume you do too?" Dr. Martinez looked at Ella who nodded and grinned slyly.

"Do you know where they may have stopped for the night?" Fang asked urgently.

"I'm guessing by the smaller lake? Ella and I camped up there once; it's a good spot, private, covered by trees. You'll know it when you see it because it looks nothing like the rest of the area. That's where she'll be."

"That's where _they'll all be" _Ella corrected her mother.

"I have to go." He grabbed his backpack off the ground and left.

They followed him out.

"Fang what's this all about?" Dr. Martinez shouted after him.

"If I live through this I'll let you know." He zipped up his coat.

"Live through what? Dr. G-H? He can't hurt you Fang." Dr. Martinez reassured him.

"No." He smirked. "I meant the cold, murderous, vindictive, crazy wrath of revenge- that you'll come to know as Maximum Ride."

"High ho, high ho, it's off to work we go." Iggy and Ian sang as they went to look for firewood. The flock had all managed to sleep peacefully through the night and we decided to set up camp here for a couple of days. Here being one of the most beautiful places in this area. The trees created a large canopy above the lake, but small holes let the sun shine through and glimmer on the water. The mountains and summits could be seen behind the trees which created a very picturesque atmosphere. Everything was lush and green- unlike the area around Ella's house where things were usually dried up and burnt. It was more like a lagoon- it was weird actually considering how Lake Mead actually looked. I guessed that it was an experiment done by Dr. G-H. It had to be, nowhere in Arizona looked like this really.

"You know, Clone" I had begun calling Alex 'clone' as a form of endearment, kind of. "This is the life."

"I agree, oh wise elder." She smiled and splashed water at me. I flew straight up and then tucked in my wings and dropped down to cannon ball.

"You got my wings wet!" She protested.

"Suck it up- not all of us had a doctor there to make sure our feathers were as soft as goose down." I teased.

"Don't hate, you wish you had an evil doctor brushing your feathers all day."

"That's creepy." My face went completely serious.

"More like obsessive compulsive." Alex laughed, and then I joined in. I was finally starting to get along with Alex- which meant I was kind of really getting along with myself too. Deep huh?

I'd barely thought of what's-his-face since I'd landed- or crashed. That hallucination completely threw my off track to the point where I kind of just started dropping without really knowing it. Falling I guess? Dylan and Ian helped me out but you could tell they wanted me committed after they saw that display. Committed to an institute- oh how ironic once again. I chuckled quietly to myself, warranting off the weird looks I was getting from the others.

The rest of the day passed slowly but ended far too quickly as the sun began to be covered by uncharacteristic clouds. Rain in Arizona? In the summer? This had to be some creepy forgotten experiment.

We started a fire quickly before the rain clouds were fully covering us and we cooked and ate a deer of whom Dylan hunted for us and Iggy roasted. Hey, a bird-kid's gotta eat.

Ian looked at his watch, "It's only 5:30. Turning in early then?" He grinned at me as I got up from the circle.

"No I'm just going for a walk. Surveying the area a little bit more before the rain starts" I felt a couple of stray drops hit my skin.

"Okay?" Ian shot a look at Dylan and they both snickered to each other. I rolled my eyes at them and then turned around to walk away. I had really left just so I could be alone for a while. Just a few moments of solitude before I had to fly off to my possible death to save Angel.

After I had walked for long enough I sat down on a fallen tree and pulled out my backpack. I had meant to give Fang the ring back. All it was now was a broken promise, no value- or at least that's what I tried to convince myself. Glad that I was alone, I slipped the ring on my left hand's ring finger- just to see how it might look. I was flooded with a thousand images in my head, millions of possibilities that I'd never have. I was always going to be like this. I could never get married or have a family or be anything like my Mom. This ring was a symbol of everything I wanted but I could never have. I couldn't be normal because saving the world was going to take my entire life to do- and if I couldn't do it someone else would probably be put in this position after I had died- or gotten killed trying to help everybody. I was so tired of feeling this obligated- why was it always my responsibility? Who died and passed down the crown to me? Why couldn't I have a story book romance with Fang just like some other girl and boy will get one day? Was it because Fang wasn't the one? No, it was because... it was because... life wanted to keep us apart- life wanted to keep me from being happy. It wanted to keep me from feeling like I deserve to be loved and trusted. Was it that heroes don't need love to be strong? Cause if that's true than I was no hero. I didn't need to be _in love_- I just needed to feel something again.

The rain had started to pour down now and I could feel myself feeling much heavier with the weight of the water. My clothes and my hair were completely soaked to the point where I looked like I had just gone swimming. I brushed the hair off of my face and wiped away the tears and the rain from eyes.

"Max" A voice breathed behind me. Not any voice- _the voice- _But not _my _voice_- his. _

I closed my eyes. _He can't be here. _I tossed the ring behind me and stood up to walk away.

"Would you just stay with me for a second?" Fang pleaded.

"Stay with you? Why? You never stay with me- never. Look at us, we're already fighting and you just got here."

"Max that's what we do- we fight. You tell me when I'm being an arrogant, ignorant ass and I tell you when you're being a pain- which is most of the time. I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings- and you have like a two second rebound rate- then you're back being a pain in the ass all over again."

"So did you seriously just come here to tell me I'm a pain?" I turned to glare at him through the rain that was falling between and all around us.

"I'm trying to tell that it's not going to be easy. It's going to be hard. We're going to have to work at this everyday for the rest of our lives- but I'm willing to do that because I want you. I want you for the rest of my life and I'll never leave you again. Just picture it for me, will you? 20 years from now, 30 years from now, if we're still around. What does it look like? If it's you on your own still fighting to do the impossible then go- I've lost you more than once and I can do it again if that's what you want- just don't shut me out. Don't take the easy way out of our problems Max."

"There is no easy way. I'm either alone and tied together with a smile, or I'm with you and I'm a mess. Whatever I do somebody always gets hurt."

"Stop thinking about what everyone wants- stop thinking about what I want- tell me what you want." He pleaded again.

"It's not that simple" I said quietly.

"It's always that simple Max. Tell me, do you love me?"

I turned my face up to the dark sky and let the rain fall down on me, "Of course I love you, you idiot! I've never stopped loving you- I'm just scared! I'm scared of how you make me feel, I'm scared of what might happen if I let you back in- I'm scared that I'll lose you and I'll never recover. You come so easily to me, but then you take and you take the best parts of me and I'm a mess all over again. Just walk away. It's no use. I've been a lot of lonely places Fang but I've never been any where that felt as cold as this right here. You put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray and you lock me out because you think that's what's best for me. But its not- it's what you think is best for you. That's just the way our relationship is. A perfect day and then a rainy ending. It always ends but how long before another monsoon like this? The water's high and I know I should just jump in and let this all go but I can't. I cry and I don't tell anyone, I might not be golden one; I may never amount to what everyone says I'm born for. I just smile; I hide because I'm afraid of getting hurt again. I give love away so easily to you and then you just leave me standing here all alone like I mean nothing- but you always come running back. You always tell me that love is what makes us strong, but what if it's what destroys us- what will kill us? I'm not willing to risk anything just to be happy again for a little while."

"Love is about taking risks. I went through a time once where I thought to love someone was to destroy and ruin everything- but it's not. Love makes the two of us strong and fearless. We need each other- I need you and I'll go down on my hands on knees and beg if that's what it takes. I love you Max and I'll love you until the day I die- and if there's life after that I'll love you then. To be honest, I don't think I could ever find another reason to leave you. I left because I was scared too, and I was lying to myself telling everyone that it was to help us save the world- but it wasn't. It was selfish and stupid and I've been hiding myself and how I feel ever since I did it. I hate myself for putting you through all of this. I'm the one who made everything a mess and I'm the one who put you through all this pain. I can't live with myself knowing how badly I hurt you this time- how I always manage to hurt you. God knows I'm not right for you, I don't deserve you, I shouldn't be asking for you right now- But I want you and I'll want you forever Max." He allowed his eyes to meet mine.

"You deserve so much better than me- I saw how I broke you when I told you I was staying- but I chose wrong Max. I choose you and I'll always choose you. There will never be another option for me- only you Max. I'm bound to you so tightly that I can't ever untie myself and let this go. You can't ever stop loving someone Max, because if you do than it wasn't love in the first place. You let me go and I came back, I'm yours Max- and you're mine, whether or not you want to be. You go around acting like you're this wild thing that can't be tamed by anyone, you think love means that you belong to someone- but tell me, what's wrong with that? Everyone needs to belong to someone and I belong to you and you belong to me. You're afraid to stick out your chin for once and stand up for love. Life's a fact, people fall in love, people do belong to each other, because that's the only chance anybody's got for real happiness. You call yourself a free spirit, and the truth is you're terrified that someone's going to put you back in a cage." He took a step forward, leaving his hands unthreateningly by his sides. His dark eyes bore into mine.

"But if you refuse to feel something, refuse to give in to your desires, than you're already in that cage. You built it yourself and it's not bounded between the school or by the institutes- it's wherever you go. No matter how much you run from me and you you're always going to end up running into yourself- and I'll be there too. I'm in your heart Max- I'm part of you and you're a part of me. Don't deny yourself that. Don't deny yourself your feelings. I left the institute, I left my chance for a family- and I realize that I didn't need them. I have you and you're the only thing I need. Don't deny yourself happiness Max. I promise to make you strong again for the rest of my life. It's not going to be easy- it's going to suck some days. It'll be messy and complicated and totally irrevocably wonderful. Love is a wonderful thing. You learn from it, you grow, you feel something. Love's the only chance any of us have of feeling alive- of feeling _human._" He picked up the ring that I threw at him. "You may think this ring is a broken promise waiting to happen- but it's just a ring. It can't tell you what you want; it can't tell me what you want. It's just a reminder." He tied it to a chain around his neck.

I didn't have time to process anything logically. Memories of me and Fang flashed in my mind. How did he know me so well? He unlocked the key to what I've been hiding without ever trying to search- he had always known. When were younger the flock used to joke about the two of us- and then all of a sudden it became real and it became hard to handle. Maybe that's because no matter what love was hard to handle. It was complicated and messy- but that didn't mean it doesn't last. We grew up falling in love and for all I know forever could end tomorrow and I'd never have gotten a chance. I looked at his eyes through the sheet of rain that was falling and they were dark as I had always remembered them. They shined like pretty lights and they were deep- so deep I felt as if he was seeing through me at that moment. All I wanted was to back to the old house where we grew up and start everything over again and stop making these mistakes. All these scientists had mastered the art of mutants but they never thought of time travel or something?

I remembered when we were little and Fang and I used to beat each other up, we used to tag team Iggy and Gazzy, we used to stay up and star gaze thinking about things together. I thought of how when we were younger I dared him to kiss me and ran when he tried- when he did kiss me and I still ran. Is that because he was right? Because I didn't want to be in a cage? It had to be. Now we're sixteen and suddenly we're not the little kid the other used to see- but his eyes still shine the way they used to and he still makes me feel everything that he used to.

Could I let him back in again? I'd kept denying and denying and denying- so why was I contemplating now? The answer should have been simple. I remembered all the bad times too. Our very first fight, the first time it all went wrong- the second- the third. It seemed the list was infinitely long. Did it outweigh the good? I didn't know. It was so hard to focus when he looked at me like this- when he analyzed me like this.

I had barely noticed how close we had gotten since we began speaking. He was close enough to touch but he still felt out of reach.

"Fang" I sobbed. Before I could really comprehend what had happened I was in his arms and crying on his shoulder like I used to. I wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could, not worrying about hurting him, and he did the same back. I pulled at his shirt, grasping desperately for something to hold on to. It felt like the rest of the world was slipping away. He kissed the top of my head as he let me cry. "I love you Fang" I said before I leaned away and then with as much emotion as I could I pulled him back to me and kissed him. I kissed him as if I had never done so before. I had been waiting for this moment for what felt like decades when it had only been a few months. He was what I'd been searching for- and I had him the whole time. He pulled me closer to him and held on tighter than before. "I'll never leave you again. I'm here forever Max. Forever" He mumbled against my lips. "I love you" I whispered back. He was what I had needed all along. He was right this whole time that we had to be a team- we couldn't function without each other.

From this moment on, I would always belong to Fang. No matter where I went or if I tried to escape it- I promised myself I wouldn't deny it anymore. I would fight to keep this- he could never hurt me that way again because I wouldn't let him- I'd fight harder than I'd ever fought before.

I was his and he was mine. Love made us stronger, it made us powerful- _it made us who we are.

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**A/N: Hope you liked it, the story isn't quite over, two more chapters maybe? R&R! :)**


	25. Chapter 24: A make up and a plan

**A/N: Thanks everyone who read :) I just wanna clear a couple things up :) Okay:**

**1. Sorry for any grammatical errors :P I fix all my grammar in school and stuff, but I just write this for fun and I don't have a beta so please forgive me for any errors :) I try not to make such big mistakes that impact the story, so if I use the wrong their/they're/there, its/it's, etc SORRY! :) **

**2. Fang and Max might seem a little out of character but James Patterson never really delved very deeply into Max and Fang's love story when they're together, a bunch of kisses, I don't even remember if they told each other I love you ;p anyways, this is how I interpret them when they're together, and fighting etc... so, it may seem out of character but I'm not exactly sure how they'd be in legit character lol **

**3. The story is wrapping up, this isn't the last chapter, so please stay with me 'til it's done :) I'll try and update as soon as I finish the chapters, usually I write the story in Word, and then I transfer it over to another program that's compatible, and then I actually have to upload it... so the chapters are usually done a while before they're uploaded, but I'm trying to update faster because it's almost done :)**

**Anyways, sorry for taking up time with the author's note :) Hope you like it :)

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Chapter 24

"I'm awake right?" I asked Fang as we walked back to the camp.

"Hopefully." He stopped, tugging on my hand and pulled me towards him. "That way I don't have to worry about you waking up."

He actually smiled, with his black eyes showing some emotion in the moonlight.

"Who knew you were such a sap?" Sure, Fang'd told me he loved me but he'd never been totally cheesy. Like now. It was kind of cute.

"You did."

"Why are you so happy? You've never smiled for more than 5 seconds at a time. Now you won't close your mouth." I grinned. "I like it."

"I'm just happy. I haven't been with you like this for over two weeks. I waited ten years of my life for you and then I lost you and now I finally have you back. I'm going to continue smiling until you see fit to shut it. Only you know how and are allowed." He waggled his eyebrows at me. Waggled.

"Eww! Gross!" I smiled. Fang pouted.

"Please?" I sighed and leaned forward until my face was an inch from his.

"Only once you make nice with Iggy." I pulled back before Fang could catch my head.

"Tease!"

"Yes. I am. Now get!" I gestured to the campfire where Iggy sat roasting rat. Sadly we were back to eating rat again. Despite packing food from my mom's house, bird kids tend to burn through snacks like wildfire. Cooked rat, not so much.

He sighed and trudged forward, no longer smiling.

"Come save me if you hear punches?" He pleaded. I made a non-commital sound and pushed him forward. He stumbled towards the lone figure, glaring at me as he went.

"Where'd you go Max? I sent out a search party." Iggy joked.

"She, um, ran into me." Fang muttered.

"Is that the wind I hear, or a tall, lean, dumb-as-a-post, heart breaking, family ditching traitor?"

"The second one."

"I see. I was hoping it was the wind."

"My apologies."

"Well that's a phrase I certainly haven't heard come out of your mouth."

"I haven't exactly been around to say it."

"I know." Again, with creepy accuracy, Iggy looked directly at Fang's face.

"That's why I'm here. I came to say sorry, because I am. I'm sorry."

"Sorry for leaveing Max? Of course you are."

"Not just Max. I left all of you and I acknowledge that. I regret it more than anything. Not only did I leave you, I came back with a nother flack and then refused to come with you because I found a family, even though you guys thought they were evil. You know better than any of us. Family doesn't always work out and I figured that out the hard way. Max said some stuff about choices to me before you guys left and I know I chose wrong. I tend to make the wrong choices, but I'm not a grown up and I'm going to make mistakes. I learned that leaving isn't okay, I learned my lesson. But you guys are my family and as sappy as it sounds, family is unconditional. You're my borther Iggy. My family and my best friend. Besides Max, you're the only thing that's always been constant and I messed that up."

"You're making quite a comeback." Iggy's face softened a little. Fang smiled. He turned around and grinned at me.

Iggy spoke again, "I don't think we're friends yet, despite my forgiveness, but family's family and we'll see where if goes. Cool?"

Surprisingly, Fang's face split into an even wider grin. "As weird as it's going to be, I'm going to hug you know." Iggy rolled his sightless eyes.

"You are so weird." And then they 'bro-hugged', leaping apart when Nudge burst into the clearing.

"What the hell is going on?" She looked between them and they blushed. I have to admit it looked suspicious. I chuckled.

"Iggy and I are back on speaking terms."

"I can see that." Nudge stepped forward. "Is this why you left Fang? You were… confused?" She trailed off.

"No!" Iggy and Fang exclaimed. I stepped out from behind my hiding spot, after picking myself up off the ground after dying with laughter. Fang, gay?

"Fang's as straight as they come." I winked at him. Fang smirked.

"Uh huh…" Nudge trailed off again. Everyone else burst into the clearing.

"Fang?" They all asked simultaneously.

He nodded and Alex flung herself at him. My fists clenched, but I smirked at how awkardly Fang stood. Good old, non-hugger Fang. As soon as she let go, he sidled over to me, grabbing my hand.

"Geez clone. Get your own!" I grinned at Alex. She smiled back.

"Maybe I already did." She looked at Dylan.

"Wait… WHAT?" I exclaimed. "Did I miss something?"

"Just kidding… Maybe." She resolved. I shook my head. Dylan smirked. Everyone needed to stop smirking!

"Jealous Max?"

"In your dreams. Confused is all." I shot back.

"Yeah, I figured." He slumped his shoulders then straightened up again. "So what was going on?"

"Fang and Iggy might be gay for each other." Nudge blurted.

"Shut up Nudge!" Iggy and Fang yelled.

"That explains so much." Ian trailed off. Gazzy meanwhile, blinked confusedly.

"What do you mean gay? Like gay gay, or happy gay? For the love of God, please say happy gay."

"They're not gay Gazzy, no need to bring the nigher power into this. Nudge is a tad presumtuous." I amended. Look at me using big words!

"Moving on. Fang's here and we have to go get Angel."

We sat eating our rat and discussed what we're going to do to get my obnoxious baby back." After a while people started going to sleep. I pulled out the laptop.

Fang was sitting against a tree. I sat down between his legs and leaned up against him.

"I think our faithful readers deserve an update." I pulled up my blog.

"Why are we using yours?"

"Because I don't know your password." I shot back. He reached around me and pulled up his.

"Huh. Well let's see." He started typing slowly and I watched his fingers. They typed out HAWAII.

"Why hawaii? I mean its warm and all but…" I trailed off. The page loaded while Fang answered.

"It's also where we finally started dating." I rolled my eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me."

"How did you know?" I cut myself off.

"I know you too well Max." He chuckled. "I was also in extremely cheesy mood, when I changed my password, and if you ever mention this to anyone I will deny it and say I love the coconut ice cream."

"Alright, alright." I opened a new post and started typing.

Blog: Fang's Blog  
You are visitor number: Do you really care?

Hey guys, Max here. I know what you're all thinking. Well, probably not, because I'm not Angel BUT… I can take a pretty good guess because I'm awesome.

So… I bet you're all thinking, "What is Max doing on Fang's blog? How did she get his password? Did Nudge hack it? How is Max so awesome?" Well, if you're not thinking about how awesome I am, start. Now…. Are you doing it?

Anyways, the answers to the first few questions go hand in hand. Password and me are in a relationship because wait for it… So are Fang and me! *Giant smiley face*.

And Nudge thinks Fang and Iggy are gay… We'll just leave that alone. Haha. Oh dear, Fang looks like he may murder me. Save me bloggers! Save me! (Now, you'd know if you were thinking about how awesome I am, I don't need you to save me. Fang's fairly easy to distract ;P)

Onto a slightly more depressing topic, Angel's still missing and, despite what an obnoxious little child she has been lately, we're going to get her tomorrow, so wish us luck.

Fang wants to say something so, ladies and gentlemen (or whatever you are)… here his is!

Hey. Fang here, as Max mentioned. I just wanted to say hi to y'all and thank you for sticking with me for so long, listening to all me complaining about Dylan (who may be dating Alex :O) etc. So thanks.

Max is poking me about how the keys clicking won't let her sleep, so I have to go before she murders me.

Fly on,

Fang and Max

11951 Questions

Aww shucks. Max again. I took the laptop from Fang and now we'll anser your questions. I've given up on sleep, as you may have noticed.

Red Haired Wonder: I hate you.  
Fang and Max: Ditto

FangRulez: Finally!  
Fang and Max: Hehe.

Jace: You've got to be kidding me. You don't just ditch your family Fang!  
Fang and Max: Well, you guys aren't my family. The flock is. Not to mention you're trying to take over the world.

JessJay: What about Fang and Iggy being gay? What the heck!  
Fang and Max: I hate you Max. JessJay, it's all good. Max is all I want. (Despite her obvious flaws. Ow! She hit me)

Nudge: …  
Fang and Max: …. Did you do that with your computer brain? Cause you're supposed to be asleep. And you don't have a computer.

I closed to laptop and fell asleep with Fang's arms around me. Big day tomorrow.

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**A/N: Hope it was okay :) R&R :D**


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